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Prince rules at the Palace; Pistons down Pacers in OT

Feb 17, 2011 - 5:08 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tayshaun Prince finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, as the Detroit Pistons controlled overtime to beat the Indiana Pacers, 115-109, at the Palace.

Ben Gordon scored the first four points of overtime and ended with 16 points for the Pistons, who snapped a six-game slide against Indiana. Rodney Stuckey had 18 points and six assists to help Detroit break a three-game losing streak overall.

"They just didn't want to go away. I give them a lot of credit, a lot of teams right before the (All-Star) break, they kind of relax. I'm looking forward to the break, but they gave it everything they had tonight," Gordon said. "I'm happy with this, we showed a lot of poise and we didn't falter, and we got the 'W.'"

Roy Hibbert matched a career high with 29 points for the Pacers, who have dropped two in a row. Danny Granger netted 28 in the loss. Indiana head coach Frank Vogel, who took over for Jim O'Brien in late January, said the loss is part of the process of changing the team's identity mid-season.

"I knew the risk of restructuring our offense and neglecting the defensive work that we needed to be a good defensive team, and I knew it was going to bite us sometime," Vogel said. "And it reared its ugly head tonight."

The Pistons led throughout the fourth quarter until the Pacers rallied late. Josh McRoberts had two dunks during a nine-point run that brought Indiana within 98-97 with 2:41 to play.

Prince followed with a jumper and two free throws to restore a two-possession lead with about 90 seconds left, but it wasn't substantial enough to fend off the Pacers.

After Granger drilled a three and Gordon countered with a jumper, Hibbert sank a hook shot to trim Indiana's deficit to 104-102 with 40.5 seconds to play. Gordon missed a jumper at the other end, leading to Darren Collison's game- tying fastbreak layup with 15.4 seconds on the clock.

Detroit held for the last shot, but Prince's attempt from near the foul line fell well short. No foul was called on the play despite Granger appearing to hook Prince's arm prior to the shot, and despite Granger appearing to bump Prince's wrist during the motion.

But the lack of a call didn't turn out to hurt the Pistons, thanks to Gordon's two buckets to start the extra session. Indiana, meanwhile, missed its first three field goals.

Hibbert had two of those misses, and later committed a turnover that eventually led to Prince's put-back with 1:34 to go. The bucket extended Detroit's lead to 112-106, and after Granger answered with a three, Stuckey knocked down a jumper to help secure the win.

The Pistons shot 64 percent in the first quarter, after which they held a 33-22 advantage. The Pacers trimmed their deficit to 60-55 at the break, but never moved ahead in the third quarter despite staying close. Detroit held an 84-78 lead heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

Detroit shot 51.5 percent, but only two of its 50 successful field goals came from beyond the arc...Indiana shot 50 percent...McRoberts finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers...Tracy McGrady had 15 points for the Pistons, while Greg Monroe added 13 and Chris Wilcox 12.