Quentin Richardson's 3-pointer with 30 seconds left lifted the Clippers to a 82-77 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
In Friday's 110-80 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers were outscored, 38-15, in the final quarter. It looked like it was going to happen again as the Clippers trailed 66-56 after three periods.
But Los Angeles outscored Detroit 26-11 in the final 12 minutes and eventually tied the game, 77-77 on Jeff McInnis' jumper with 1:45 remaining.
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from Pistons-Clippers: 56k | 300k  Quentin Richardson hits the decisive trey against the Pistons, his only points of the fourth quarter. Robert Mora/NBAE/Getty Images |
Richardson started the play by rebounding Ben Wallace's missed layup. He passed upcourt to Lamar Odom and found himself alone at the top of the key before taking a return pass.
The play had been diagrammed numerous times by coach Alvin Gentry, who had complete confidence in his top reserve.
"I knew it was good as soon as I let it go," Richardson said. "I looked, and then I went crazy.
"We just thought we were going to have one shot to win it and Q has been shooting the ball great from the three," Gentry said. "So we just ran a play we usually run for him. He stepped back and knocked it down."
The Pistons had a chance to tie the game following a timeout, but Clifford Robinson could not handle Jon Barry's inbounds pass.
"We have been able to win a lot of games like this," Pistons forward Jerry Stackhouse said. "But today we were on the other side of it. It's a feeling we don't want to have too many more times. Maybe we didn't execute. We still had opportunities to pull the game out but it wasn't the way we wanted to play. They made tough shots."
Stackhouse scored 26 points but misfired on a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper in the final minute.
"You can look at it all day and think what you could have done and you could look at the flip side and the things they did to win the game," he said. "You got to give those guys a lot credit. We should have burned this game, but you never disrespect them when they beat you."
Stackhouse was 10-of-27 overall and 3-of-7 in the fourth quarter. Detroit shot 37 percent (30-of-81) overall and 6-of-18 in the final period.
While the Pistons were shooting away their lead, the Clippers took full advantage.
Elton Brand's slump continued as he scored just 10 points, giving the 20-point scorer 39 in the last four games. But had seven points in Los Angeles' 24-9 run that closed the game.
"We got together collectively and said we had to win the game," Brand said. "We were playing soft and lackadaisical. But we really went out and fought hard and got the victory."
Odom, who added a season-high 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting, made a 3-pointer and delieverd the pass through the defense on Brand's dunk.
Combined with the effects of Friday's blowout loss and the Pistons' physical defense, the Clippers shot 6-of-18 in the first quarter.
"You can see why they have the record they have," Gentry said. "They guard the (heck) out of you. They play physical on the outside.
"We didn't shoot the ball well," Pistons coach Rick Carlisle said. "This is a disappointing loss. That is the type of game (running game), they seduce you into playing. The tempo really went their way after the first quarter."