Detroit (8-0) at Dallas (6-2) 8:30 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Detroit Pistons have a chance to match the best start in franchise history Saturday when they visit the Dallas Mavericks, who have won four in a row.

Richard Hamilton led four Pistons in double figures with 19 points and Ben Wallace grabbed 16 rebounds and had four blocked shots in a 78-70 victory over Houston on Friday.

Somehow, Detroit survived despite shooting 39 percent (33-of-85), getting outrebounded, 52-38, and making only seven free throws. The sluggish effort was good enough to match the 1988-89 team with the second-best start in team history.

A victory Saturday matches a 9-0 start accomplished by the 1970-71 squad. The Pistons five consecutive road wins leaves them two shy of the top winning streak away from home in franchise history.

Keeping the run alive will not be an easy task against Dallas, which is coming off an 87-78 win over Atlanta on Thursday.

Josh Howard shot 10-of-13 from the floor en route to scoring 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who are looking to start 4-0 at home for the third time in four seasons.

Howard's five blocked shots were one shy of a career high and spearheaded a defensive effort that limited the Hawks to just 33 points in the first half.

After a seven-game losing streak to Detroit, Dallas has won eight of the last 12 meetings.