Los Angeles got within eight points on more than one occasion in the fourth, but never closer. Desperate to cut into the deficit and maintain their run at home, the Clippers resorted to fouling center Ben Wallace over the final six minutes.
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"I was a little bit surprised," Wallace said. "It was pretty much a compliment. What they pretty much said is they figured out they couldn't play with us, and let's go to some other type of strategy. Sometimes you outthink yourself."
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The strategy nearly paid off as Wallace made just 4-of-14 free throws down the stretch. However, he got his own rebound on one of the misses and fed Billups for a 3-pointer that put Detroit ahead, 97-86, with 4:50 left.
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"Unfortunately for us, we got the result we wanted at the free-throw line, but we just didn't do a good job of claiming the rebounds," Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Had we done that, I think we would have had a lot more pressure on them."
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Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace had been a part of the strategy many times with Portland when he faced former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, a poor foul shooter, but never liked it.
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"All that says is (they) don't have a defense and don't have confidence in their team to make stops," Rasheed Wallace said.
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"I haven't seen it beat us one time," Billups said. "They just keep learning the hard way. It's just telling you, there ain't no way we're going to stop you. That's like the last option."
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빅벤, 라쉬드, 천시의 인터뷰를 글자 그대로만 보자면, 클리퍼스 니네 자신감 없구만. 이 정도로만 보여지고... 던리비 감독의 인터뷰를 보자면, 던리비 감독은 후회하고 있지 않네요.
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행간을 읽지는 못하겠습니다만...
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어쨋건, 만약 큐빅스님 말씀대로 8번이나 공과 상관없는 곳에서 (빅멘에게) 파울이 일어났다면, 문제가 있지 않나 합니다. 전반부터 가비지 타임용 선수를 집어넣고 반칙만 계속 시키고 나오게 하는 사태로까지는 안가겠지만...뭐, 가볍게 생각하자면, 농구 전반에 걸쳐 문제를 일으킬만한 작전이라면 커미셔너 및 스탭들이 알아서 제재를 가하던지 규정을 수정하던지... 하겠지요.
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제가 하고 싶은 말은, 큐빅스님처럼 저도 문제 있는 작전이 아닌가 생각합니다만, 인터뷰를 보고 리캡에서 그다지 특별히 '노매너' 언급이 없는걸로 봐서는... 농구인들의 생각은 제 생각과 좀 다른가.. 이런 생각이 듭니다. 앞으로 시니컬한 칼럼니스트들의 글을 좀 봐야겠군요..^^
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