A walk in the park for Detroit turned into a nightmare, as Atlanta pulled off the upset in today's showdown. As usual after a surprise loss, the finger pointing came after the game in the Detroit locker room. "Coach didn't really bother preparing us for this game. We'd already been watching films of our next opponent," said Fox.

David Smith acknowledged that was true, but said "our next opponent is three times as good as Atlanta. Of course we dedicate more time to preparing for them. I'm not faulting Fox, but if the rest of the team had played as hard we'd have won this game easily. It was a lack of effort, not preparation."

Atlanta coach Bob could care less whose fault it was. "We're thrilled to get the win. They can make all the excuses they want, but we were the better team out there today."

Atlanta was led by Jackson (17 points, 11 boards, 1 assists, 2 blocks), Worrel (9 points, 10 boards, 1 assists, 2 steals, a block), Simon (28 points). Detroit was led by Fox (26 points, 3 assists), Graham (12 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks), Kay (14 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks).

With the victory, Atlanta are now 32-24 and 19-8 at home. They stay at #1 in the Southeast and stay at #3 overall in the Eastern Conference. After this defeat, Detroit are now 43-14. They hold at #1 in the Central and remain at #1 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score Atlanta roster Detroit* roster