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Chicago (27-33) at Detroit (48-11) 7:30 pm EST Wed Mar 8, 2006
TV: CSNC, FxDt
Preview
The Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons own the best home record in the league. They look to win their 13th straight game at the Palace of Auburn Hills as they host the Chicago Bulls.
Detroit is 26-2 at home, and hasn't won 13 straight home games since a 15-game streak from Jan. 26-April 3, 1990, en route to that season's NBA championship.
The Pistons have won four straight over the Bulls and 14 of the last 16 in the series, but Chicago has won two of the last three meetings at the Palace. The Pistons lead the season series 3-0, outscoring Chicago by an average of 16.3 points.
A victory would give Detroit its fourth season sweep of the Bulls in six years.
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Detroit returns home after splitting a four-game road trip, and is coming off a 105-94 loss Saturday to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Pistons led 58-51 at halftime, but allowed the Lakers to go on an 18-0 third-quarter run to put the game out of reach.
"There are really, really signs of fatigue," Chauncey Billups said. "It's not having enough energy to take it to the basket and take that pounding. Instead, it's taking the shots that might be halfway open."
Billups had 24 points and nine assists, but scored only four points in the second half. He is averaging 24.0 points on 42.6 percent shooting in his last three games.
Rasheed Wallace made his first six shots but finished 7-for-17 and with 17 points. Wallace matched his season-low with three points on 1-for-13 shooting in Detroit's 95-87 win Feb. 24 over Chicago.
Chicago has won just three of its last 10 road games, and scored a season low in a 91-72 defeat Sunsay at Cleveland.
The Bulls, though, defeated New Jersey 95-87 at home Tuesday behind a career-high 24 points off the bench from Andres Nocioni. Nocioni made 9 of 14 shots, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
"(Nocioni) brings a lot to our group in general. His style sometimes can be detriment to the way he plays. Sometimes he gets so uptight, nervous and anxious but tonight he was much more relaxed," said Chicago coach Scott Skiles. "I could tell on his first couple of shots, that he was much more relaxed in the way he caught the ball and shot. He is very valuable to us all the time, especially when he plays like that."
Nocioni scored 17 points on 7 for 10 shooting in his last game against Detroit on Feb. 24.
Kirk Hinrich scored 22 points and added nine assists, and is averaging 25.0 points and 6.6 assists in his last five games.
Team leading scorer Ben Gordon scored just five points on 2-for-8 shooting against the Nets, and has just six points in his last two games at Detroit.
Team Notes
Detroit: G Chauncey Billups scored 22 of his 24 points in the first three quarters. He also finished with 10 assists for his eighth double-double in 11 games. ... The Pistons failed in a bid for their first five-game winning streak against the Lakers. ... In his second game since signing with Detroit on Wednesday, G Tony Delk made his only shot, a 3-pointer, and finished with five points. ... The Pistons have not won consecutive road games against the Lakers in nearly 13 seasons. ... Detroit was 9-of-24 from the arc but only 15-of-23 from the foul line.
Chicago: The Bulls snapped an eight-game losing streak against the New Jersey Nets. ... Chicago matched a season low with ust eight turnovers. ... F Andres Nocioni scored a career-high 24 points. He had scored just two points in his previous two games. ... In his last five games, G Kirk Hinrich is averaging 25.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists. ... C Tyson Chandler grabbed 15 rebounds, three more than he had in his previous two games.
POST GAME
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Box Score |
Shot Chart
Hamilton leads Pistons past Bulls in shootout
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The Detroit Pistons' usual defense didn't arrive until the final 20 seconds Wednesday night.
That was all they needed.
At the end of one of the highest-scoring quarters in recent Pistons history, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace made key defensive plays to help Detroit pick up a 106-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
With less than 30 seconds to play, the Bulls had already scored 37 points in the fourth and had the ball again, trailing by just a point.
But Rasheed Wallace stripped Ben Gordon, then hit two free throws to make it a three-point game. Chicago still had a chance to tie, but Ben Wallace got a piece of Andres Nocioni's 3-pointer and Rasheed Wallace hit two more free throws to clinch the game.
"We just stuck with it," said Richard Hamilton, one of four players to score at least 11 points in the fourth. "We kept playing, and then we made the key stops we needed down the stretch."
The Pistons outscored Chicago 38-37 in the final 12 minutes -- the most points either team had scored or allowed in a fourth quarter this season. Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace each had 14 for Detroit, while Nocioni (15) and Gordon (11) combined for 26 for Chicago.
"That was kind of fun," said Chauncey Billups, who led the Pistons with 27 points. "It was a high-tempo shootout until the end. Our offense is good, and we have some great offensive players, but defense is still what we do."
Rasheed Wallace scored 25 points for Detroit, and Hamilton had 24.
Gordon had 28 for Chicago and Nocioni finished with 23.
"We need to play like this every night," Nocioni said. "We lost, but we played hard and aggressive. If we play like this every night, we'll win a lot of games."
Detroit led 68-64 entering the fourth, but Hamilton and Billups combined for nine points in the first 2 minutes of the period -- seven by Hamilton -- to put the Pistons ahead 77-67.
Gordon hit back-to-back 3-pointers to keep Chicago in the game, but the Bulls were unable to get the stops they needed to pull even.
"I think it came down to that we beat ourselves," Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said. "We wanted to win this game, and we felt like we should have won this game."
A pair of 3s from Nocioni and Gordon made it 97-95 with 1:58 to go, but Rasheed Wallace calmly drained a 3-pointer at the other end -- the eighth of the quarter -- to move the lead back to five points.
After the teams traded baskets, Gordon hit a running jumper and Nocioni made two free throws after Wallace's miss to make it 102-101 with 41 seconds left.
That, though, was the last good thing to happen to the Bulls.
"I'm happy we played hard, but that should be a given," Chicago coach Scott Skiles said. "Our guys fought right until the end, but at this level, there are no moral victories. It's a game we should have won."
Chicago dominated the first half -- outshooting the Pistons 54 percent to 35 percent -- but only led 48-41 at halftime.
"The first game back after a West Coast trip is always dangerous," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "I thought we had terrible energy and terrible passion in the first half. We seemed very disinterested."
The Pistons went ahead 54-53 midway through the third, and the teams traded the lead until Billups' 3-pointer helped Detroit take a 68-64 edge into the final period.
Game notes
Tayshaun Prince limped off the court early in the third quarter after banging knees with Tyson Chandler on a layup, but returned for the fourth quarter. Prince said after the game that he was fine. ... The win gave the Pistons a sweep of the four-game season series with Chicago. The Bulls have only beaten Detroit twice in the last 16 meetings. ... The Bulls made six of their first seven 3-pointers in the fourth, but missed their last two.
Code:
CHICAGO BULLS
STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Luol Deng, GF 35 4-9 0-0 1-2 0 6 6 2 1 0 2 2 9
Malik Allen, PF 23 4-7 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 2 1 2 0 2 8
Tyson Chandler, C 32 2-4 0-0 1-2 2 10 12 2 0 2 1 3 5
Kirk Hinrich, G 31 4-9 1-1 2-2 0 1 1 5 0 0 4 3 11
Ben Gordon, G 36 10-15 5-7 3-5 1 5 6 2 1 0 4 5 28
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Chris Duhon, PG 22 1-2 1-2 6-6 0 3 3 3 0 0 4 1 9
Darius Songaila, PF 19 2-8 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 2 3 4
Eric Piatkowski, GF 8 2-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
Andres Nocioni, SF 29 9-13 2-5 3-4 1 8 9 2 3 0 0 4 23
Luke Schenscher, C 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Othella Harrington, FC DNP COACH'S DECISION
Jannero Pargo, PG DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
38-71 9-16 16-21 7 35 42 19 6 4 17 24 101
53.5% 56.3% 76.2% Team TO (pts off): 17 (23)
DETROIT PISTONS
STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Tayshaun Prince, SF 31 5-13 0-1 0-1 2 1 3 1 0 1 0 1 10
Rasheed Wallace, PF 39 9-17 1-5 6-6 1 4 5 4 2 2 2 3 25
Ben Wallace, C 35 4-7 0-0 0-2 6 5 11 2 4 1 1 0 8
Chauncey Billups, PG 39 9-17 4-5 5-7 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 4 27
Richard Hamilton, SG 37 9-21 1-1 5-7 2 2 4 6 2 0 2 2 24
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Antonio McDyess, PF 22 1-7 0-0 0-0 4 3 7 2 1 1 2 3 2
Lindsey Hunter, PG 8 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 3
Maurice Evans, SG 7 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3
Tony Delk, PG 12 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
Carlos Delfino, SG 10 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 2
Dale Davis, C DNP COACH'S DECISION
Jason Maxiell, F DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
39-89 8-17 20-27 16 19 35 26 11 5 8 18 106
43.8% 47.1% 74.1% Team TO (pts off): 8 (7)
Chicago at Detroit - 3/8/06
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