Young Pistons Ready For Sonics

Doug Collins was hoping that his young Detroit Pistons were developing the ability to respond when their stars had an off night.

He didn’t expect them to learn so quickly.

With Joe Dumars, Grant Hill and Allan Houston combining for just 17 points on 6-of-29 shooting, Otis Thorpe and rookie Theo Ratliff picked up the slack Wednesday night.

“I wouldn’t have believed we were ready for this, especially Theo,” Collins said. “It just goes to show what happens when you keep working and don’t quit.”

Thorpe scored 27 points and Ratliff added 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Pistons to a 94-87 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.

“Ratliff and Thorpe hurt us in the post, but we just didn’t have the energy to win back-to-back games,” said Seattle coach George Karl.

Ratliff had never had more than eight points or eight rebounds, but held his own against Shawn Kemp to help the Pistons to their third straight win.

“Playing against guys like Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf is what I have been dreaming about since I started playing basketball,” he said.

The Pistons trailed 49-43 at the half, but charged into the lead with a rally late in the quarter.

The SuperSonics expanded their advantage to nine, 62-53, but Thorpe scored eight points and Lindsey Hunter hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 16-3 run.

That put the Pistons ahead 69-65, and it was 71-68 at the end of the third quarter.

Detroit scored the first 10 points of the fourth, six by Grant Hill, and opened an 13-point lead with seven minutes left.

“That was the key, because we had to go out there and earn their respect,” Hunter said. “If we keep beating teams that come in here, we will start to earn that respect.”

Seattle scored the next six points to pull to 81-74, but Mark Macon ended the threat with a three-point play with 4:57 to go.

Thorpe added 12 rebounds, while Hunter scored 19 points.

Kemp had 23 points and 21 rebounds for Seattle, while Schrempf had 19, 16 in the first half.

“You know it is going to be ugly when you are on the road, in the second game of a back-to-back, and you have to find a way to win,” Kemp said. “We’ve got to find a way to get energized in these games, or it is going to get worse.”