Hamilton’s last-second jumper beats Sonics
SEATTLE – Richard Hamilton made a fallaway baseline jumper with less than 1 second remaining to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 98-96 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night.
Hamilton came free off a screen from Ben Wallace, took the pass from Chauncey Billups and hit the 19-foot jumper over Ray Allen and Johan Petro with 0.2 seconds left.
Quiet for the first three quarters, Hamilton finished with 20 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. Rasheed Wallace scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds and Billups also scored 21 with 11 assists.
The Pistons avoided losing consecutive games for just the second time this season. They lost to Denver on Wednesday night.
But it wasn’t without a significant challenge from the Sonics.
Leading 89-87, Wallace grabbed Billups’ missed shot and dunked in front of Chris Wilcox for a 91-87 lead with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Seattle didn’t go away. Allen scored on a dunk, then after a miss by Tayshaun Prince, Allen collected his own rebound and scored on a 10-footer to pull the Sonics even at 91 with 1:04 left.
After a timeout, the Pistons ran their set perfectly, with Hamilton knocking down a 20-foot baseline jumper. Luke Ridnour answered for Seattle with a 3-pointer, but Hamilton made a 3-pointer of his own for a 96-94 lead with 28.2 seconds left.
Ridnour was then fouled by Rasheed Wallace coming off a screen and made both free throws to tie the score at 96 before Hamilton hit the game-winner.
Allen led the Sonics with 31 points, but Seattle – third in the league in 3-pointers made – was just 4 for 15 from beyond the arc. Detroit made 11 of 29 3-pointers.
Pistons 98, Sonics 96
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| DETROIT | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Prince | 40:38 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| RWallace | 39:57 | 8-20 | 1-2 | 1-11 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| BWallace | 39:22 | 4-6 | 1-8 | 5-10 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Billups | 39:36 | 6-14 | 5-5 | 0-0 | 11 | 3 | 21 |
| Hamilton | 37:32 | 7-12 | 4-4 | 1-2 | 5 | 2 | 20 |
| McDyess | 16:41 | 4-5 | 2-4 | 0-3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Hunter | 8:24 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Delk | 10:28 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Evans | 7:22 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 37-80 | 13-23 | 9-33 | 26 | 17 | 98 |
Percentages: FG .463, FT .565. 3-Point Goals: 11-29, .379 (Billups 4-6, R.Wallace 4-13, Hamilton 2-4, Prince 1-3, Delk 0-1, Evans 0-1, Hunter 0-1). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 7 (5 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (R.Wallace 3, Prince 2, Hamilton, McDyess). Turnovers: 6 (Billups 2, Hamilton 2, Prince, B.Wallace). Steals: 8 (Billups 2, Hunter 2, B.Wallace 2, Evans, McDyess). Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| SEATTLE | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Collison | 15:16 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Lewis | 41:51 | 8-14 | 4-5 | 2-7 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Petro | 23:40 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 2-8 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Allen | 44:07 | 13-26 | 2-2 | 2-9 | 3 | 0 | 31 |
| Ridnour | 36:20 | 6-10 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| Swift | 24:20 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 3-9 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Watson | 15:27 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Wilcox | 32:44 | 5-9 | 4-4 | 3-8 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| Wilks | 0:06 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilkins | 6:09 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 39-80 | 14-17 | 12-48 | 19 | 19 | 96 |
Percentages: FG .487, FT .824. 3-Point Goals: 4-15, .267 (Allen 3-10, Ridnour 1-1, Watson 0-1, Wilks 0-1, Lewis 0-2). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14 (17 PTS). Blocked Shots: 1 (Swift). Turnovers: 12 (Ridnour 4, Lewis 2, Wilcox 2, Collison, Petro, Swift, Watson). Steals: 2 (Petro, Ridnour). Technical Fouls: Collison, 3:53 first.
| Detroit | 21 | 29 | 21 | 27—98 |
| Seattle | 24 | 23 | 22 | 27—96 |
A—17,072 (17,072). T—2:15.