MILWAUKEE, December 1 (AP) -- Tayshaun Prince scored 20 points and the Detroit Pistons put away the Milwaukee Bucks early in a 117-91 victory on Saturday night.
Chauncey Billups added 18 points and nine assists, Rasheed Wallace had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Jason Maxiell scored 13 points.
Bobby Simmons and Charlie Villanueva led the Bucks with 13 points, but they all came with the game already decided. Michael Redd scored 11 points and Andrew Bogut and Mo Williams added 10 apiece for the Bucks, who played their fourth game in five nights and lost their fourth straight.
Detroit hadn't played since its 109-74 rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, a game in which LeBron James did not return after spraining his finger in the second quarter.
The Bucks had hoped to shake off a stinging 91-88 loss at New York on Friday in which they blew a 17-point second-half lead, despite an injury to Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury.
With four Detroit starters already resting, Maxiell blocked two shots and Antonio McDyess one to set up Arron Afflalo's basket that gave the Pistons a 98-76 lead midway through the fourth. That was enough for Detroit coach Flip Saunders, who finished clearing the bench when he pulled the last starter, McDyess.
Detroit led 56-42 at the half. Wallace's dunk with 5:29 left in the third answered Redd's layup that pulled the Bucks within 11, but that was as close as Milwaukee got. The Pistons closed out the quarter with a 19-10 run, capped by Prince's 3-pointer that gave them a commanding 84-65 lead entering the final quarter.
Tonight Milwaukee closed out its fourth back-to-back set this season. They dropped to 1-3 on the front end last night with a 91-88 loss to New York, and now carry a 2-2 record after a loss tonight.
The Bucks are now 25 games over .500 all-time against the Pistons (112-87), which is fourth among Milwaukee opponents. The only other teams the Bucks are more games over .500 against are Cleveland (32), Golden State (30), and Washington (27).
Awvee Storey scored for the first time this season…He was two for two from the field with five points and two rebounds.
Detroit took three of its four games against Milwaukee last season and are now 1-0 against Milwaukee this season.
Detroit has committed 12 or fewer turnovers in six straight games…Because the Pistons value the ball, opponents are getting a league-low 11.7 points per game off of turnovers against them. The Bucks had seven points off of 12 turnovers in tonight’s game.
Tayshaun Prince is shooting 56.3% (54 for 96) in his last eight games.
Dan Gadzuric left the game at 04.4 seconds left in the first quarter with a bloody nose. He did not return.
Despite trailing by 14 at the half (56-42), The Bucks shot 48.6% (18-37) from the field while Detroit shot 43.2% (19-44)…However, the Pistons shot 100% (14-14) from the free-throw line while the Bucks shot 44.4% (4-9).
Rasheed Wallace notched his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
This is the first loss (now 5-1) for the Bucks this season when shooting a higher field goal percentage than the opposing team (Bucks 55.7% – Pistons 51.2%).
This is the first loss for the Bucks when shooting 50% or better from the field (3-1).
The Bucks are now 2-1 against their central division foes this season.
The Pistons out-rebounded the Bucks 35-26 including 14-4 on the offensive boards.
The Pistons had 26 second chance points to the Bucks 13.
Click "play" on the video player to the right to watch highlights from Saturday's loss to Detroit. Or use the links below to watch and listen to archived video and audio.
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(On tonight’s game and the crowd that showed up despite the weather…)
“We’re kind of in the middle of a downturn, no doubt. I think that started with Philadelphia. We’ve gotten away from a lot of the things we’ve been preaching and believing in as a staff and as a group of guys in that locker room. When you’ve got four (games) in five nights and the last one is against a team like Detroit, you know you’re going to be challenged. Certainly you can use a crowd and I respect the heck out of the people that came out. It meant a lot to me to see as many people that were here, and also staying to the end of it. We’re going to get it turned around.”
(On the contributing factors the losing streak...)
“Intensity defensively, especially on a possession-by-possession basis. I think we’ve got certain individuals that don’t want to punch in consistently with an effort. It doesn’t always have to be pretty, but if you’re playing as hard as you can, that makes up for a lot of mistakes. I think from an offensive point of view, maybe we lose some confidence because the other team is scoring. If you’re getting in holes, as we did tonight and in previous nights because your defense is not good, you’re going to take that with you to the offensive end and it’s going to make that end hard. If you bring a defensive energy each and every game, the rim opens up at the other end. It’s amazing what can happen in a week’s time. We learned a great lesson with this league.”
(On Detroit’s rebounding abilities in tonight’s game…)
“They’ve got some rebounding-minded players. They’ve got some size and strength inside, for sure. We weren’t quite ready to match that this evening. I think they had ten offensive rebounds in the first half and kind of got a sniff. If you don’t put that fire out early in the game they’re going to keep coming. They got some tip-dunks and three-point plays inside and that compounded itself.”
Michael Redd
(On the upcoming road trip against Western Conference opponents…)
“We want to go into this West coast trip with a little bit of confidence. The key for us is just playing every game with certain consistency, certain passion, and a certain desire to win. We haven’t had that. We’ve beaten some Western teams so far this season, so it’s just a matter of going out and winning on the road now. No matter who we play against, East or West, we have to have the ability to go in there and play the right way, play together, and play with some aggression.”
(On whether or not the Bucks are still a playoff contender…)
“Obviously we want to make the playoffs, and ultimately we want to win a championship. That should be the mind-set of our team.”
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Yi Jianlian with the dunk
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