Pistons 79 - 77 Wizards
Final
  for this game

Stuckey lifts Pistons over Wizards

Mar 27, 2012 - 3:16 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Rodney Stuckey's jumper with 0.2 seconds remaining lifted the Detroit Pistons to a 79-77 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday.

Stuckey, who came back after a three-game absence due to a toe injury, scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and the Pistons overcame a 12-point deficit in the period to snap a five-game losing streak.

Tayshaun Prince added 18 points while Greg Monroe scored 10 points to go with 10 rebounds.

Jordan Crawford scored 20 points while John Wall added 14 with nine assists and seven rebounds for Washington, which has lost all of its 20 games this season when scoring under 90 points.

"You have to put teams away when you have them down," said Wizards interim coach Randy Wittman, whose team led by nine after three quarters. "We have to put them away and we haven't learned that."

Trailing, 67-55, in the early stages of the fourth quarter, Stuckey and the Pistons stormed back with a 19-6 run.

Stuckey capped the surge with a triple, giving Detroit a 74-73 advantage with 55.9 seconds left.

Nene gave the Wizards the lead right back with a hook shot off the glass, but Greg Monroe's tip-in at the other end made it 76-75 in favor of Detroit with 23.1 remaining.

A bit later, after Ben Wallace made 1-of-2 from the stripe, Nene tied the game at 77 with a sweeping hook in the paint with 5.8 ticks to go.

But Stuckey quickly dribbled up the floor and drained his pull-up jumper from the right-elbow for the win. The play was called for Stuckey to go one-on-one with his teammates spreading the floor.

"That's pretty much what happened," he said. "I just did a move, couldn't get to the basket so I stepped back and the shot went in."

Prince netted eight first-quarter points as the Pistons took a 16-14 edge into the second.

Despite shooting just 27.8 percent and turning the ball over 13 times, Detroit found itself down just 35-30 heading into the break. The Pistons out-rebounded Washington, 29-21, and were 9-of-11 from the foul line in the half.

The Wizards led 62-53 after three quarters.

Game Notes

The Wizards scored 18 points off 19 Detroit turnovers...The Pistons have been held below 80 points for three straight games...Detroit was 20-of-27 from the foul line while Washington was 9-of-14...Detroit out-rebounded Washington 49-40.






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