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Bench Warmer
Richard Hamilton no longer has time to warm up coming off the bench. He doesn't seem to need it anyway after setting a Pistons scoring record for a reserve.
Hamilton scored 38 points, Allen Iverson had 27 and the two combined for 15 of Detroit's 17 points in overtime in a 126-121 victory over the injury-plagued Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
"The simple fact that now I'm coming off the bench I ain't got time to get warmed up," said Hamilton, who went 15-of-25 from the floor. "I have to come in on fire every time."
Iverson, who also had nine assists, helped the Pistons to their second straight gritty win following a 3-9 stretch that they stopped with a win against Miami. He and Hamilton led the way when it counted.
"We were cognizant that Rip had the hot hand, so obviously our thing was to make sure he got the ball," Iverson said. "When they tried to take away what stuff Rip did, we got success with me and the big guys up top with the pick and roll. We were scoring effectively every trip down the court."
Still, this one came down to the wire, twice.
Ramon Sessions scored 20 of his career-high 44 in the fourth quarter and overtime and put Milwaukee up for the final time when he hit two free throws that made it 121-120 with 46 seconds left.
"It was my career high, I was wishing we could've gotten the win instead of those 44 points," said Sessions, who added 12 assists. "We had them in a tough bind, but they got the win, so at the end that's really all that matters."
Iverson answered when he stepped back on a drive and hit a 14-footer. Newly acquired Keith Bogans missed a 15-footer for the Bucks with 15 seconds to play, and Hamilton hit two free throws to make it 124-121.
The Bucks' last chance to tie ended when Richard Jefferson, who finished with 16 points, missed a 3-pointer from the corner with 6.2 seconds left and Hamilton added two more free throws to end it.
"Those two, All-Star caliber guys, Hall of Fame-type guys you're talking about right there," Sessions said. "They're a great team and those guys hit big shots when they were supposed to."
Hamilton said he and Iverson provided a good balance of scoring.
"It was a great counter off each other," Hamilton said. "When one of us got tired, or whatever, the other guy picked it up."
Detroit's Rasheed Wallace scored 27 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers, and Antonio McDyess had 16, while Tayshaun Prince added seven points, nine assists and 13 rebounds. Charlie Villaneuva scored 33 points and Charlie Bell had 10 points for Milwaukee.
Sessions, the starting point guard because Luke Ridnour will miss the next four weeks with a broken right thumb, kept the Bucks ahead despite also missing Michael Redd (knee) and Andrew Bogut (back) to long-term injuries.
Sessions gave Milwaukee a 102-96 lead with 3:46 to play by weaving past three defenders and converting a three-point play after his layup.
"He was awesome," said Hamilton, who had a chance to win it at the buzzer. "Forty-four points by a point guard against us is crazy. We've got to do a better job than that. We should have switched it up more when he got into a rhythm."
But Detroit came back because of Hamilton, who hit two jumpers in a row to give the Pistons a 109-108 lead with 26 seconds left. Sessions drove to the basket and was fouled, hitting the second of two to tie the game, but both teams squandered opportunities to win it with turnovers before Hamilton missed an open 17-footer in transition as time expired.
"We couldn't stop them," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "They scored 47 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. ... You have to play a perfect game if that's going to happen."
Milwaukee, which trailed by 13 points in the first half, quickly worked out its kinks to take a lead heading into the fourth with new players like Bogans filling much bigger roles.
Bogans, acquired on Thursday from Orlando for Tyronn Lue, couldn't participate in the morning shootaround because he hadn't officially been cleared to play. After he was cleared, he came out a few hours early to learn what he could and finished with eight points in 25 minutes.
"We played great. They just beat us," Villanueva said. "We've got to hold our head up high because we left it all on the floor."
Hamilton scored 38 points, Allen Iverson had 27 and the two combined for 15 of Detroit's 17 points in overtime in a 126-121 victory over the injury-plagued Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
"The simple fact that now I'm coming off the bench I ain't got time to get warmed up," said Hamilton, who went 15-of-25 from the floor. "I have to come in on fire every time."
Iverson, who also had nine assists, helped the Pistons to their second straight gritty win following a 3-9 stretch that they stopped with a win against Miami. He and Hamilton led the way when it counted.
"We were cognizant that Rip had the hot hand, so obviously our thing was to make sure he got the ball," Iverson said. "When they tried to take away what stuff Rip did, we got success with me and the big guys up top with the pick and roll. We were scoring effectively every trip down the court."
Still, this one came down to the wire, twice.
Ramon Sessions scored 20 of his career-high 44 in the fourth quarter and overtime and put Milwaukee up for the final time when he hit two free throws that made it 121-120 with 46 seconds left.
"It was my career high, I was wishing we could've gotten the win instead of those 44 points," said Sessions, who added 12 assists. "We had them in a tough bind, but they got the win, so at the end that's really all that matters."
Iverson answered when he stepped back on a drive and hit a 14-footer. Newly acquired Keith Bogans missed a 15-footer for the Bucks with 15 seconds to play, and Hamilton hit two free throws to make it 124-121.
The Bucks' last chance to tie ended when Richard Jefferson, who finished with 16 points, missed a 3-pointer from the corner with 6.2 seconds left and Hamilton added two more free throws to end it.
"Those two, All-Star caliber guys, Hall of Fame-type guys you're talking about right there," Sessions said. "They're a great team and those guys hit big shots when they were supposed to."
Hamilton said he and Iverson provided a good balance of scoring.
"It was a great counter off each other," Hamilton said. "When one of us got tired, or whatever, the other guy picked it up."
Detroit's Rasheed Wallace scored 27 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers, and Antonio McDyess had 16, while Tayshaun Prince added seven points, nine assists and 13 rebounds. Charlie Villaneuva scored 33 points and Charlie Bell had 10 points for Milwaukee.
Sessions, the starting point guard because Luke Ridnour will miss the next four weeks with a broken right thumb, kept the Bucks ahead despite also missing Michael Redd (knee) and Andrew Bogut (back) to long-term injuries.
Sessions gave Milwaukee a 102-96 lead with 3:46 to play by weaving past three defenders and converting a three-point play after his layup.
"He was awesome," said Hamilton, who had a chance to win it at the buzzer. "Forty-four points by a point guard against us is crazy. We've got to do a better job than that. We should have switched it up more when he got into a rhythm."
But Detroit came back because of Hamilton, who hit two jumpers in a row to give the Pistons a 109-108 lead with 26 seconds left. Sessions drove to the basket and was fouled, hitting the second of two to tie the game, but both teams squandered opportunities to win it with turnovers before Hamilton missed an open 17-footer in transition as time expired.
"We couldn't stop them," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "They scored 47 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. ... You have to play a perfect game if that's going to happen."
Milwaukee, which trailed by 13 points in the first half, quickly worked out its kinks to take a lead heading into the fourth with new players like Bogans filling much bigger roles.
Bogans, acquired on Thursday from Orlando for Tyronn Lue, couldn't participate in the morning shootaround because he hadn't officially been cleared to play. After he was cleared, he came out a few hours early to learn what he could and finished with eight points in 25 minutes.
"We played great. They just beat us," Villanueva said. "We've got to hold our head up high because we left it all on the floor."
