Pistons Hand Wizards Yet Another Loss On The Road

Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tayshaun Prince, playing in his first game since a four-game absence, finished with 20 points and six rebounds as the Detroit Pistons topped the Washington Wizards, 113-102, at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Rodney Stuckey scored 19 points to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds while both Greg Monroe and Austin Daye contributed 12 points for the Pistons, who had dropped five of six entering Sunday.

Charlie Villanueva scored 16, including three from long range, in Detroit's eighth-straight win against the Wizards.

John Wall finished with a game-high 24 points along with seven assists and five boards and both Nick Young and Andray Blatche contributed 21 points in the loss, Washington's eighth in nine games.

The Wizards played without head coach Flip Saunders, who missed the game in order to attend his mother's wake and funeral. Kay Saunders, 90, died Friday morning in suburban Cleveland.

Prince has been suffering with a sore lower back in the last few weeks but showed no signs of the injury, playing in a just under 37 minutes and taking a team-high 19 shots.

Detroit led 27-17 in the final minute of the first quarter, but The Wizards used a 5-0 spurt to cut their deficit in half. Stuckey silenced the run with a jumper, giving the Pistons a 29-22 lead after one.

The Pistons committed a costly turnover to start the second quarter as Cartier Martin stole the inbound and added a quick basket, cutting the Wizards' deficit to 29-24 before the second quarter really even began.

Detroit widened its lead to as high as 12 in the second quarter, but the resilient Wizards held tough. Young's three-pointer with 2:32 left had Washington within one, 50-49.

The Pistons then scored the game's next 10 points, and Wall connected on a pair from the line just before the halftime buzzer, cutting Washington's deficit to 60-51 entering the break.

Prince scored 10 points on 5-of-9 from the field while playing in all 12 minutes of the third quarter, and the Wizards matched every basket throughout, holding the Pistons' lead to 82-73 entering the final stanza.

Washington was able to cut its deficit to as low at 89-86 just over the mid point of the fourth, but Monroe added a driving layup and three-point conversion on the next possession to silence Washington's chances at redemption.

Detroit held its lead around eight in the following minute until a Prince jumper inside the final minute widen its lead to a game-high 13.

JaVale McGee and Trevor Booker scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Washington; Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton both scored 10 for the Pistons...Detroit held a 45-29 rebounding advantage...Monroe blocked three shots...Wall was 12-of-13 from the line.

Detroit Pistons Take On Washington Wizards At The Palace

(Sports Network) - The Washington Wizards go in search of just their second road win of the season tonight when they face off with the Detroit Pistons at The Palace.

The Wizards will be without head coach Flip Saunders, who will miss the game in order to attend his mother's wake and funeral. Kay Saunders, 90, died Friday morning in suburban Cleveland.

"She was an unbelievable fan of the NBA," Saunders told the Washington Post when asked about his mother. "If I wanted to know more about the NBA, I called her, because she watched all day. She watched NBATV. She knew everything that was going on."

Saunders was on the sidelines on Saturday, however, when John Wall finished with 18 points, a career- high 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead five Wizards in double figures, as Washington topped Minnesota, 103-96, despite another double-double from Kevin Love.

Andray Blatche scored a team-high 20 points with seven rebounds and seven assists as Washington snapped a seven-game skid. Maurice Evans added 15 points in a reserve role while JaVale McGee scored 14 with seven boards in the win.

Rashard Lewis rounded out the double-digit scorers as the Wizards played with an increased passion for Saunders, who had missed the team's three previous games while dealing with his ailing mother.

"It meant a lot," Saunders said of the win. "I know how (much) an avid supporter she is of me individually, but also how much of a supporter and a fan she was."

Love paced the Timberwolves with 20 points and 21 rebounds for his 50th straight double-double -- one shy of matching Moses Malone for the league's post-merger record.

The Pistons, meanwhile, dropped the opener of a brief two-game homestand on Wednesday when Love recorded his 48th consecutive double-double with 20 points and 20 rebounds, leading Minnesota in a 116-105 victory over Detroit.

Austin Daye scored 22 points to pace the Pistons, who have lost two in a row and five of six. Greg Monroe had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the setback, while Rodney Stuckey added 11 points and 10 assists.

"Any time you score 105 points, that should be enough points to get a victory," said Pistons head coach John Kuester. "But we have to make more of a commitment every day and change the culture of our thinking defensively. Just making sure that we defend people."

Detroit, which has won seven straight over the Wizards, is now 5 1/2 games behind eighth-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference with just 19 to play. Washington is an NBA-worst 1-28 on the road this season.