Playing at a much higher level than their opponent, the Springfield Falcons sped out to a big early lead and frustrated the Wolverines the rest of the way in a 97-76 victory Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Once again, the quickness and creativity of Hammond was the one thing that stood out. But unlike in Game 1 when Hammond took over all by himself in the fourth quarter, this time he did it earlier --and received plenty of help.
Hammond scored 27 points and had seven assists, while Chandler Dawes was his usual efficient self with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Throw in Conor McCaffrey being a speedy complement to Hanmond’s dashing exploits, Jamison Jones 3-point shooting from his favorite spot in the corner and Jake Pollen’s effort plays, and this one was all but over by the time the fourth quarter began.
"Nothing's easy. I think they had a poor night shooting tonight. We played some pretty good D, but they also missed some shots. It was very physical, bodies were knocking," Falcons coach Will Jenkins said. "Obviously Paul made a lot of 3s, James made 3s, and that helps us offensively and made things look easy."
Hammond and Jones each had four of the Falcons’ 11 3-pointers.
The Wolverines did manage to pull within eight points midway through the final quarter, but Hammond stopped them by drawing Marquis Wallace’s fifth foul and then coming up with a steal, an assist and several free throws and the lead quickly went back to 20.
Opponents had been averaging less than 86 points against the Wolverines in the playoffs, but the Falcons had everything clicking so well that they reached that number with 5:44 left.
"I'm really pleased with the way they reacted to the win. It's easier to react after a loss," Jenkins said. "Subconscious complacency can set in ... and you can't allow that to happen."
Game 3 is Tuesday night at the Palace in Detroit, and the Wolverines are a long way from where they were a year ago when they split the opening two games in New York before returning home and closing out the Stars in five.
"Right now, with the way they're playing and executing, and the contributions they're getting from a lot of people, they've just dominated two ball games," Detroit coach Bruce Brown said. "Hopefully, with our crowd, we'll come out throwing the first punch and being aggressive, and we'll see."
Detroit had an 18-9 edge in offensive rebounds, but Springfield had a 34-16 edge in foul shots and 11 steals to Detroit's five. The Wolverines went 0-for-6 on 3-pointers, and no starter scored more than 14 points.
"They won on their home court, we're going to try to do the same," Billups said. "But we need to take it one quarter at a time, not one game at a time."
This one got away from the Wolverines quickly.
Hammond had a particularly spectacular stretch midway through the second quarter, executing three completely different plays that showcased the special way he sees the court.
First, he ran a give-and-go play with McCaffrey in which the two were never closer than 15 feet and used nearly half the court. McCaffrey was a step or two past midcourt when he hit Hammond with a pass far on the right wing behind the 3-point line; as McCaffrey cut hard to the basket Hammondhit him in stride with a perfectly placed one-handed bounce pass for a layup.