An order of bad sushi made all the difference today as Denver upset the favored Detroit 94-89. Downs had a huge game for Denver, spoiling an otherwise solid performance by Detroit star Johnson in a game that could have post-season implications.

Detroit apparantly had dinner together as team last night at a local sushi bar with most unfortunate results. Several team members spent the night in the hospital, while other team members got very little sleep as they rotated turns at their hotel room's toilets. The fatigue was evident from the beginning.

"You feel sorry for them," quipped Denver coach Bob. "That's a terrible thing to happen to anybody, but we had a job to do. There's no charity in this game." Detroit coach David Smith was apologetic to Detroit fans. "Obviously we didn't see this coming, and I regret that we couldn't put a better product on the field today. I thought we still had enough to win, but it just wasn't going to happen."

Denver was led by Downs (18 points, 12 boards, 0 assists, 3 blocks), Collins (23 points, 1 assists, a block), Smith (6 points, 9 assists, a steal). Detroit was led by Johnson (19 points, 6 boards, 1 assists, a steal, a block), Clark (15 points, a steal), Merriman (16 points, 1 assists).

With the victory, Denver jump to 5-4 and 4-3 at home. They hold at #4 in the Northwest and improve to #9 overall in the Western Conference. Detroit fall to 6-4 with the loss. They remain at #1 in the Central and drop to #3 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score Denver roster Detroit* roster