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Hamilton helps Pistons avoid fourth straight loss

Jan 5, 2007 - 5:05 AM OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- Richard Hamilton's quick start quickly finished the New Orleans Hornets.

Hamilton scored 17 of his 27 points in the first quarter as the Detroit Pistons coasted to a 92-68 victory over the Hornets.

Tayshaun Prince added 15 points and Carlos Delfino 13 for the Pistons, who avoided their first four-game losing streak since January 18-24, 2005.

Hamilton was a major reason the Pistons ended their struggles without hardly having to break a sweat.

In the first quarter, Hamilton made 7-of-10 shots to help the Pistons build a 31-19 lead. He scored 10 of his points in a 15-7 surge to close the period.

"It was a fun game to play in tonight," Hamilton said. "We just wanted to make a statement from the begining of the game and control the tempo. I wanted to be aggressive but know when to take shots and look for other guys to be open. Our game plan coming in was to attack first and be the aggressor a lot of times against teams like this we kinda, ease our way into the game, so I wanted to make a statement and tell the guys 'yo, I'm coming at these dudes, so you better come with me'"

"That is how Rip is every night," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "I think in the back of his mind he knew we were on national television, he played exceptionally well. And above his play his leadership in the locker room has stepped up even more than I thought he would."

Hamilton scored five more points in the second quarter, helping the Pistons extend their cushion to 58-32. Detroit shot 57.5 percent (23-of-40) in the first half.

"In the first half, we really executed our offense at a high level," Saunders said. "I mean we had 58 points, we got the ball to the right people when we needed to, we found mismatches, and made good decisions. When they made a little of a run in the fourth quarter, we settled down, ran our sets, and made good plays."

The big night by Hamilton made the absence of Chauncey Billups easier to take. The Pistons' point guard missed his second straight game with a strained calf.

Jannero Pargo scored 16 points, Desmond Mason 15 and rookie Devin Brown 14 for the Hornets, who shot just 33 percent (29-of-88) in losing for the 10th time in 12 games.

"The last thing that I told our guys before they headed out onto the floor was not to let them beat us, and we did," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "We allowed them to play harder and do whatever they wanted to do on both ends of the court."