Pistons 113, Bobcats 87

EIGHT STRAIGHT

It was this sort of mismatch: The Pistons played 4½ minutes of exquisite basketball and that was enough. Leading 11-7 over Charlotte five minutes into Sunday night’s game, the Pistons scored on seven of nine possessions while Charlotte misfired on eight straight in a 16-0 run that essentially decided the game. The Bobcats – playing without leading scorer Gerald Wallace – never got closer than 12 after that. Tayshaun Prince fueled the early dominance with 14 first-quarter points – 12 of them coming on 3-point shots. The Pistons rained 3s all night, making 12 out of 24, a season-high for 3-point makes against a team that’s allowed its last five opponents to make 55 of 11 from the arc. Prince finished with 21 to lead five players in double figures, including Rodney Stuckey (13) and Jarvis Hayes (10) off the bench. Ex-Michigan State star Jason Richardson led Charlotte with 27.

HAYES: “That’s Detroit Pistons basketball. We share the ball. We spread it out. If any one of us is hitting shots, we just keep going to him. When we play the type of basketball we’re capable of playing, we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”

The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue

– When Tayshaun Prince gets to touch the ball early, it’s usually a good sign for both him and the Pistons. During their eight-game win streak, that’s exactly what’s happened. Prince made 7 of 13 shots, 5 of 6 from the 3-point line, to go with six rebounds and three assists. He got it going early Sunday, scoring the Pistons’ fight eight points on a couple of 3-pointers and a pair of free throws and was 4 of 5 behind the arc in the first quarter. Prince outscored the Bobcats himself in the first quarter, 14-13. Sunday was much like Friday’s easy win over Portland, except Friday it was Chauncey Billups with a 17-point first quarter. The Pistons got 25 first-half points out of their point guards in the Friday win and 22 out of their small forwards, Prince and Hayes, in the first half Sunday.

PRINCE: “The first couple of plays we ran, they were double teaming or helping over, so pretty much all game we were swinging the ball to the other side and it just so happened we were hitting our outside shots. The only thing is, you have to be ready to shoot.”

Blue Collar – Antonio McDyess’ outside shooting touch continues to blow hot and cold – he was 3 of 9 and finished with eight points – but his rebounding hasn’t suffered for it. When the bench got extended minutes in the Friday rout of Portland, McDyess finished with five rebounds in only 21 minutes. Throw that game out and McDyess – who had a game-high 12 boards against Charlotte – has been in double figures in his last six games.

Red Flag – When Charlotte has managed to spring an upset of the Pistons or come close, it’s usually been because Matt Carroll has come off its bench firing with impunity. But Carroll was a non-factor this time out, playing 6:33 of the first half and going 0 for 3 from the field.

Pivotal plays, frozen moments and lasting images from a never-in-doubt win

Role Reversal – Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace lead the Pistons in 3-point attempts by a wide margin, but it was others doing most of the damage Sunday as they wore out the Bobcats from the arc. During the decisive first half, the Pistons were 8 of 13 from long distance, with Prince making four and Hayes two. Billups hit two in the second half and Wallace was 1 of 5 for the game. Rip Hamilton (18 points), who’ll participate in the NBA’s 3-point contest during All-Star Weekend, was 2 of 6. Billups now has 211 3-point attempts, followed by Wallace (183), Hayes (109), Hamilton (100) and Prince (96).

Continuing Education – Rodney Stuckey has been much more efficient and decisive with this thought process in picking his spots to take it to the basket over the past few weeks. Midway through the second quarter with the Pistons in transition and Stuckey being guarded by diminutive Earl Boykins, it figured that Stuckey would be in attack mode and take it all the way to the rim. But with Boykins maintaining good position, Stuckey didn’t force anything. Instead, he rocked Boykins back on his heels and drilled a 15-foot jumper over him. Stuckey finished with 13 points and six assists.

Closing Spurt – When Charlotte whittled the Pistons’ lead to 12 with 6:51 left, Saunders might have been another Bobcats basket away from whisking his starters back into the game. Instead, he called timeout and 1:02 later the Pistons had the lead back to 19 after baskets by Hamilton, Jason Maxiell and Stuckey, the latter topped off with a free throw. As well as the kids have been playing lately, it would have been a setback to rely on the vets to bail them out. Another minute after that, Saunders was able to get playing time for both ex-Bobcats, Walter Herrmann and Primoz Brezec. The young guys made several rousing plays in the final two minutes – Amir Johnson with a hustle play to keep the ball alive, feeding it to Arron Afflalo for a long jumper as the shot clock was expiring; Johnson blocking the dunk attempt of Jermario Davidson; Stuckey splitting Charlotte’s defense for a tomahawk dunk; Johnson chasing down another loose ball and feeding Afflalo for a breakaway dunk.

FLIP SAUNDERS: “They gave good effort. they had a stretch when they cut it to 12, I called a timeout, I said, ‘We turned the ball over four out of five times. If we turn the blall over, we’re bad.’ Our forte is not to turn the ball over and make people guard us. We turned up the defense, got some buckets and got back control.”

A little perspective on the Pistons’ eighth straight win

A nice way to hit the 50-game mark, a decisive win to extend the Pistons’ winning streak to eight. With only two games left before the All-Star break – at Atlanta on Tuesday night and a home game with Indiana on Wednesday – the Pistons have a real shot to close with a 10-game win streak. It was another night when the starters got off to a good start and the bench followed through with an effort good enough to limit everyone’s minutes again (Antonio Mcdyess with 31 topped everybody) so that, coupled with the long weekend’s rest – except for Billups, Hamilton and Wallace, who will join his teammates in New Orleans after being named to replace the injured Kevin Garnett on Sunday – should mean everybody comes back fresh and ready for the home stretch.