Relative Concerns In NBA Matchup

It's going to be a family affair when the Detroit Pistons face the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA playoffs.

Steve Smith is going to be guarding "uncle" Joe Dumars when the best-of-five series begins Friday in Atlanta.

It should make for some interesting summer talk when their families get together. Smith, 28, a former Michigan State All-American, married Millie Mitchell last June. She is a niece of Dumars' wife, Debbie.

Dumars, 33, gave Millie away at the ceremony.

"It's going to be a little different. . . . We were hoping to avoid it," Dumars said about matching up against his nephew-by-marriage.

"We talked last night and said we just have to get around this. Steve is real competitive. I'm real competitive. But when it's over, we'll shake hands."

Time to clean the fridge

Dumars' teammate, All-Star Grant Hill, missed the Pistons' practice yesterday because of food poisoning, and no one knows how he got it.

Dumars had an idea, though.

"He probably was eating a bunch of old food in his refrigerator," Dumars said, laughing. "He's a single guy."

Hill should be healthy by Friday.

Who's on first?

From the Boston Globe: "Ray Knight (manager of the Cincinnati Reds) recently suffered a concussion in a skiing accident. When the ski-patrol ranger got to him, he asked Knight to name his center fielder. He could not, thus making him the only man in America not to know Deion Sanders."

Looking back

On this date in 1989, Nolan Ryan came within two outs of his sixth career no-hitter, losing it when Nelson Liriano tripled in the ninth inning as the Texas Rangers beat Toronto 4-1. Ryan finished with his 10th one-hitter.

They said it

-- Keith Molin, University of Michigan senior associate athletic director, when asked how a convicted drug dealer kept getting complimentary tickets to Wolverine basketball games, reportedly via NBA-bound sophomore Robert Traylor: "I offer silence as a substitute for eloquence."

-- TV's Jay Leno:"How about (golfer) Tiger Woods? You see how far he hit that ball? The only way he could have hit it farther is if one of the Cubs pitchers were pitching to him."

-- Executive Pat Williams of the Orlando Magic, warming up his one-liners in anticipation of the NBA playoff series between his club and the Miami Heat: "Miami is so tough, they use Mace as a breath-freshener down there. . . . The cats only have six lives."

-- Terry Francona, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, when asked if he was pessimistic: "I'm . . . never pessimistic. That's why I got this job."

He wrote it

-- Phil Sheridan, Philadelphia Inquirer: "A first-round (NFL) draft choice is like a tattoo. Choose the wrong one, and you're going to regret it for a long, long time."