Pistons cool off hot Magic with solid team effort

2008-12-31  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Detroit Pistons ended the Orlando Magic's seven-game winning streak and won their fourth successive game with an 88-82 victory on Monday.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 19 points as Detroit used its smothering defence and balanced scoring to cool off the Magic (24-7), who have the third best record in the Eastern Conference.

Pistons' Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince added 16 points while Allen Iverson chipped in with 15.

Iverson, who joined the Pistons earlier in the season after a trade from the Denver Nuggets, said he thought he was finally adapting to the way Detroit (18-11) win games, which is by playing tight defence and sharing the ball.

"This is a different feeling, but I like it a lot," Iverson told reporters. "I've won four scoring titles and I've scored 23,000 points, so I've done a lot of big things when it comes to scoring the basketball, but now I've got different goals.

"I have a different job here, not just scoring points.

"This team is all about winning and doing what it takes and that's what I want to do now."

The Pistons held Orlando to just 16 points in the final quarter, snuffing out any thoughts of a Magic fight back.

"We didn't compete on the defensive end in the first half, and we didn't finish the game," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said.

"That's not the kind of effort you need to beat a quality team like that."

Rashard Lewis led the Magic with 23 points while Dwight Howard had 18 points and 18 rebounds.

"We were able to fight back into the game, but we then turned the ball over and made a lot of mistakes," Lewis said. "We were still fighting, but we couldn't make that one play."

Ninth place

In Oklahoma City, Shaquille O'Neal had 28 points and 12 rebounds, moving into ninth place on the NBA's career scoring list, and the Phoenix Suns overcame the loss of two-time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-102.

Nash played only 9 minutes before leaving with back spasms and Amare Stoudemire was hounded by foul trouble, but the Suns still had plenty of firepower to overwhelm the NBA-worst Thunder.

Jason Richardson scored 20 points and reserve Matt Barnes had 19 for Phoenix, which snapped a four-game road losing streak. Rookie Russell Westbrook scored a career-high 31 and Jeff Green 22 to lead Oklahoma City.

In Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 25 points and Atlanta beat Denver 109-91 to close out an important homestand with a long-awaited milestone.

Atlanta completed an eight-game homestand, its longest of the season, with a 7-1 record, including five straight wins. Its only loss was to Boston.

The Hawks (20-10) reached 20 wins before New Year's Day for the first time since the 1987-88 season. Atlanta plays at Indiana in its final game of 2008.

Seven teams won 20 games this season before the Hawks. Even relatively modest accomplishments are noteworthy in Atlanta, which won only 13 games in the 2004-05 season and made the playoffs last season for the first time since 1999.

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, rookie Derrick Rose had 21 points and a season-high 13 assists, Ben Gordon scored 24 points, and Chicago beat New Jersey 100-87.

The Nets continued their poor play at home, falling to 5-12, the second-worst mark in the Eastern Conference. The Nets (15-16) are 10-4 on the road.

Andres Nocioni and Larry Hughes each added 17 points for the Bulls, who won for only the fourth time in 18 road games this season. It was Chicago's first win in New Jersey since 2001, snapping a 13-game losing streak.

Vince Carter scored 31 points and Devin Harris added 26 for the Nets.

In Minneapolis, Al Jefferson scored a season-high 38 points, including nine in overtime, and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Minnesota 108-98 over Memphis.