Pistons not hitting on

all cylinders

The Associated Press

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks would probably like to start every game in the third quarter. For the second time in the best-of-five series, Dikembe Mutombo and the Hawks dominated Detroit after halftime and grabbed a commanding lead over the Pistons with their second straight 20-point victory, 89-69 Monday night. Detroit had no one to contain Mutombo, who controlled the game at both ends of the court. He set a personal playoff high with 28 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds, after burning the Pistons for 17 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks in the opener. The Pistons, held to a team playoff low of 70 points in Game 1, needed only two days to break the mark. In fact, Monday's contest followed a nearly identical pattern as Game 1, won by the Hawks 90- 70 after they held the Pistons to just 27 points in the second half -- including a scoreless streak of 7 1/2 minutes in the third quarter. This time, Atlanta trailed 44-43 at the break, only to crush the Pistons by scoring the first 17 points of the second half. Detroit finally broke the run on Jerry Stackhouse's 16-foot jumper from the corner with 6:21 remaining. The Pistons have been unable to counter the 7-foot-2 Mutombo, long one of the NBA's most stifling defensive players but a major offensive force in this series. Playing all but two minutes, he was 13-of-14 from the field. Mutombo eclipsed his season high of 24 points and his playoff best of 26, set against Detroit in 1997. Detroit made a run at tying the lowest-scoring quarter in playoff history, sitting on six points in the final minute before Lindsey Hunter hit a jumper with 33 seconds remaining. DETROIT (69)Hill 5-16 5-6 15, J.Williams 5-8 1-2 11, Dele 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter 1-11 0-0 2, Dumars 6-9 0-0 14, Montross 0-1 0-0 0, Stackhouse 5-12 0-1 10, Laettner 3-8 5-6 11, Vaught 2-3 0-0 4, Buechler 0-3 0-0 0, Reid 0-0 0-0 0, O'Bannon 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-72 11-15 69. ATLANTA (89)Crawford 2-2 2-2 6, Long 4-12 2-2 10, Mutombo 13-14 2- 3 28, Blaylock 5-16 0-0 12, Smith 7-20 5-6 21, Corbin 5-8 0-0 10, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, West 0-2 0-0 0, McLeod 1-2 0-0 2, Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Sheppard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-79 11-13 89. Detroit 20 24 10 15 -- 69Atlanta 18 25 26 20 -- 893-Point Goals- -Detroit 2-7 (Dumars 2-4, Hunter 0-1, Buechler 0-1, Stackhouse 0-1), Atlanta 4-12 (Smith 2-5, Blaylock 2-5, Corbin 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Detroit 42 (Hill 10), Atlanta 50 (Mutombo 13). Assists-- Detroit 15 (Dumars 5), Atlanta 15 (Blaylock 6). Total fouls--Detroit 19, Atlanta 15. Technicals--Dele. A--16,377 (33,853)

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