Detroit halts five-game road losing streak, 106-90
Jerry Stackhouse made sure the Detroit Pistons played like a team trying for the playoffs. The same could not be said for the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta's Hanno Mottola, left, defends Detroit's Joe Smith. The Pistons defeated the Hawks, 106-90, Saturday night in Atlanta.
"It was tough. I was just tired out there, really," Stackhouse said. "We really had to fight through it. We need to try to keep plugging. It was a good effort from everybody."
Stackhouse scored 31 points and Joe Smith added 16 as the Pistons ended a five-game road losing streak with a 106-90 victory Saturday night.
Toni Kukoc had his fourth career triple-double and his second in the last three games, leading the Hawks with 29 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
No other Atlanta player seemed willing to match Kukoc's intensity.
"After the first half, they pretty much let us know what kind of game it was going to be," Hawks guard Jason Terry said. "It was in their favor. It was up to us in that third quarter to come out and try to change that. We didn't do it. We waited until the fourth, and it was way too late."
Stackhouse, coming off a 46-point performance in a six-point overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, improved his scoring average to 33.7 points over the last seven games.
Stackhouse, the NBA's second-leading scorer, boosted his average from 29.8 to 29.9 points per game. Allen Iverson, who missed Philadelphia's game at Milwaukee on Saturday, leads the league with a 31.1 average.
Detroit is four games behind Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
The Pistons, who won for the third time in five games, won their third straight over Atlanta. They led by as many as 22, the first time coming on Mikki Moore's three-point play at the end of the third quarter.
"We're trying to find our comfort zone," Stackhouse said. "We have some good ballplayers on our team right now. We'll take wins any way we can get them."
Atlanta, which lost for the 12th time in 14 games, never drew any closer than 98-86 after Terry hit a three-pointer with 3:55 remaining. Smith answered with a 16-foot jumper from the left wing.
Terry finished with 20 points and Nazr Mohammed pulled down 19 rebounds for the Hawks.
"They were quicker to loose balls," Atlanta coach Lon Kruger said of the Pistons. "They were quicker on the boards, in transition, pretty much in every way in the activity areas. You have to play through that. That's a strength of Detroit's, and they won each of those battles tonight."
Rockets 103, Spurs 99
Houston Steve Francis scored 30 points and Cuttino Mobley had 26 as Houston ended an 11-game losing streak against the Spurs. Matt Bullard added 18 points and Maurice Taylor 15 as the Rockets won their third straight and sixth of their last seven. Houston came back after being down by 20 points in the second quarter and 12 in the third to snap the Spurs' nine-game winning streak.
Bucks 87, 76ers 78
Milwaukee Tim Thomas came off the bench to score 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, as Milwaukee defeated Philadelphia. The 76ers' coach, Larry Brown, is scheduled to miss the first two games of the trip to undergo medical tests. Allen Iverson remained in Philadelphia to get treatment for a hip pointer. Aaron McKie had 23 points and 10 assists starting in place of Iverson and Tyrone Hill added 13 points, but the 76ers couldn't stop Thomas in the fourth.
Mavericks 109, Suns 99
Dallas Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 of his 34 points in the third quarter and Steve Nash had 28 points as Dallas won its sixth straight game. Michael Finley added 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds as Dallas matched its longest winning streak in six years and avenged two blowout losses to Phoenix earlier this season. The Mavericks, who have won nine of their last 10, moved back into a tie with Portland for the fifth spot in the Western Conference. The teams meet in Dallas on Tuesday night.
Knicks 101, Bulls 80
New York Latrell Sprewell scored 22 points, Marcus Camby had 19 and Kurt Thomas added 18 as the Knicks shot a season-high 62 percent and handed Chicago its 20th straight road loss. The Knicks, who won their eighth straight home game and fourth straight overall, shot 70 percent in the first quarter and took the lead for good midway through the period.
Heat 95, Grizzlies 81
Miami Anthony Carter and Eddie House made up for the absence of Tim Hardaway, combining for 33 points as Miami kept pace with its rivals in the Eastern Conference. With Hardaway missing the game because of a death in his family and the Heat already without shooting guard Eddie Jones, the burden fell on Miami's reserve guards. Carter, starting for only the third time this season, scored 17 points and had seven assists. House scored 16 points off the bench.
Hornets 95, Wizards 93
Charlotte, N.C. P.J. Brown scored a season-high 22 points and Elden Campbell added 18 as Charlotte rallied past Washington. David Wesley contributed 17 points for the Hornets as all five starters hit double figures. Courtney Alexander paced Washington with 21 points, followed by Richard Hamilton with 20 and Christian Laettner and Hubert Davis with 16 each.
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