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Prince returns to lead Detroit over Wizards

Mar 7, 2011 - 4:08 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tayshaun Prince, playing in his first game since a four-game absence, finished with 20 points and six rebounds as the Detroit Pistons topped the Washington Wizards, 113-102, at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Rodney Stuckey scored 19 points to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds while both Greg Monroe and Austin Daye contributed 12 points for the Pistons, who had dropped five of six entering Sunday.

Charlie Villanueva scored 16, including three from long range, in Detroit's eighth-straight win against the Wizards.

John Wall finished with a game-high 24 points along with seven assists and five boards and both Nick Young and Andray Blatche contributed 21 points in the loss, Washington's eighth in nine games.

"We didn't get any stops down the stretch tonight is what it boiled down to," Acting Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "[Detroit] hurt us with the (Prince) and Stuckey pick-and-roll and kind of hurt us every which way."

The Wizards played without head coach Flip Saunders, who missed the game in order to attend his mother's wake and funeral. Kay Saunders, 90, died Friday morning in suburban Cleveland.

Prince has been suffering with a sore lower back in the last few weeks but showed no signs of the injury, playing in a just under 37 minutes and taking a team-high 19 shots.

Detroit led 27-17 in the final minute of the first quarter, but The Wizards used a 5-0 spurt to cut their deficit in half. Stuckey silenced the run with a jumper, giving the Pistons a 29-22 lead after one.

The Pistons committed a costly turnover to start the second quarter as Cartier Martin stole the inbound and added a quick basket, cutting the Wizards' deficit to 29-24 before the second quarter really even began.

Detroit widened its lead to as high as 12 in the second quarter, but the resilient Wizards held tough. Young's three-pointer with 2:32 left had Washington within one, 50-49.

The Pistons then scored the game's next 10 points, and Wall connected on a pair from the line just before the halftime buzzer, cutting Washington's deficit to 60-51 entering the break.

Prince scored 10 points on 5-of-9 from the field while playing in all 12 minutes of the third quarter, and the Wizards matched every basket throughout, holding the Pistons' lead to 82-73 entering the final stanza.

Washington was able to cut its deficit to as low at 89-86 just over the mid point of the fourth, but Monroe added a driving layup and three-point conversion on the next possession to silence Washington's chances at redemption.

Detroit held its lead around eight in the following minute until a Prince jumper inside the final minute widen its lead to a game-high 13.

"A big part of [Washington's] offense is transition and we did a great job of loading to the basketball and making sure that we didn't allow Wall (to penetrate)," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "We did a good job on him throughout the game until the very end where he made a couple of baskets."

Game Notes

JaVale McGee and Trevor Booker scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Washington; Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton both scored 10 for the Pistons...Detroit held a 45-29 rebounding advantage...Monroe blocked three shots...Wall was 12-of-13 from the line.