 Ben Wallace and the Pistons were never threatened by the Mavs. 56k | 300k |
Detroit took the lead for good with a 9-2 run midway through the first quarter and dominated the second, outscoring the Mavericks, 32-12. The Pistons closed with 13 straight points and had a commanding 62-37 halftime cushion.
Dallas got no closer than 14 thereafter and suffered its worst loss to Detroit since March 18, 1990.
Rookie Zeljko Rebraca scored 16 points and Ben Wallace had 10 and 12 rebounds for the Pistons, who shot 52 percent (47-of-91) and held a 50-40 rebounding edge.
"There is never going to be perfection, but that was pretty close," Wallace said. "We didn't make very many mistakes. This sends a message to the whole league that we are gonna come out fast."
The Mavericks were limited to 40 percent (35-of-86) shooting and failed to score 90 points for the first time since April 10 against a Detroit defense that was allowing a league-best 85.5 per game.
"Obviously, I love the way we played, it's as hard as we have played all year," Detroit coach Rick Carlisle said. "We certainly haven't played any harder. That was an elite-type team, and it's great to take advantage of our home court and beat them."
Michael Finley scored 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting and Dirk Nowitzki made just 3-of-14 shots for 10 points as the Mavericks lost in Detroit for the first time since March 19, 1999.
"That's as bad a basketball as we've played since I've been here," Nowitzki said. "We looked bad."
The Pistons shot 52 percent (47-of-91) and made 10-of-16 3-pointers, led by Robinson and Stackhouse, who combined to go 6-of-11 from behind the arc.
"I don't know how good we can be, but that felt good," Stackhouse said. "If we can play as good as that every night, we'll be in great shape. It felt great to put that kind of number on a team like Dallas."
The Pistons imprvoed to 3-1 at home and have won five of six since a season-opening loss at Dallas.
"In the first game, they put one on us," Wallace said. "We showed them that we gave that one away, they didn't take it from us."
Detroit took the lead for good with a 9-2 run midway through the first quarter. Robinson snapped a 13-13 tie with a jumper and capped the spurt with a layup to make it 22-15 with a 4:06 left.
The Pistons had a 30-25 lead after the first 12 minutes and outscored Dallas, 32-12, in the second quarter, highlighted by nine points from Robinson.
Stackhouse drained a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-0 run Detroit used to close the second quarter and build a commanding 62-37 halftime cushion.
"We just didn't show up in the first half," Nowitzki said. "In the second half, we tried our best to hang in there and cut it back down, but the hole was too deep."
Dallas got no closer than 14 thereafter and suffered its worst loss to Detroit since March 18, 1990.
Steve Nash scored 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting and Juwan Howard added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who were outscored 42-30 in the paint and were shut out on the fast break.
"They took our fast break away," Nowitzki said. "Our pick-and-roll wasn't very effective. They played very well defensively against us. We weren't able to do the stuff we wanted to do."
"They beat us every which way you could," Dallas coach Don Nelson added. "A bit of an embarrassment the way we played tonight. I've been around long enough, I can accept that on occasion."