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Billups, McDyess help Pistons crush Clippers

Nov 10, 2007 - 5:11 AM AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- Red-hot efforts by Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess helped cool off the streaking Los Angeles Clippers.

Billups scored a season-high 23 points, including six 3-pointers, as the Detroit Pistons ended the Clippers' four-game winning streak with a 103-79 blowout victory on Friday.

McDyess, who hit his first seven shots, also scored a season-high 14 points while reserve Nazr Mohammed added 15 and seven rebounds for Detroit, which won its 10th straight against Los Angeles.

"(McDyess) took only four shots last night (against Chicago) so we tried to get him the ball early," Billups said. "(McDyess) got going and we kept going to him. He may not always be the first or second option, but he's always going to be there for us. He may not be perfect like tonight, but he'll be a good feature for us any night."

McDyess had an inkling during warmups that this could be a good night.

"My shot felt good in warmups, and it just transported out to the game," McDyess said. "It felt good to get some shots. I was more aggressive and I looked for my shot."

During his first two seasons with Detroit, McDyess came off the bench. This year he's starting and he admitted it took some time to get used to the new role.

"Every day it gets better," he said. "It's coming back slowly. It's getting a lot easier for me."

The Clippers, who haven't beaten the Pistons since November 3, 2002, were trying to match the best start in franchise history. The 1985-86 team started the season 5-0.

Billups connected on 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including 6-of-8 from the arc, while McDyess dissected Los Angeles in the first half, going 7-of-7 and hitting all of his shots from 15 feet and out.

The Pistons, who led by 17 points at halftime, pulled away even more in the third quarter, which ended with Detroit ahead 83-56. Billups scored 12 of his 23 points in the third quarter - all from 3-point range.

"Tonight was a combination of our defense being terrible with their guys getting wide-open threes," Clippers center Chris Kaman said. "Chauncey burned us really bad in the third quarter, and the game was basically over after that. We just weren't ready to play defensively."

Detroit never trailed after a 9-0 spurt midway through the first quarter gave it a 13-6 lead. The Pistons later used a 16-1 run that started late in the first quarter to increase the advantage to 20 points three minutes into the second quarter.

McDyess and Jason Maxiell sparked the run with four points apiece.

Corey Maggette and Kaman led a 16-6 run by the Clippers that got them within nine points at 50-41 with 1:34 remaining in the first half. However, Detroit ended the half with a 9-1 spurt to take a 59-42 lead to the locker room.

"From the very beginning, they controlled the tempo of the game, the glass and they shot the ball really well," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We got back in the game late in the second quarter when we cut it to (nine) but then we let them get another run just before the half."

The Pistons, who controlled the boards in the first half by outrebounding Los Angeles by 16, shot 48 percent (42-of-87) from the floor.

After playing four of its first five games vs. Eastern Conference foes, Detroit starts a five-game Western trip on Sunday in Seattle.

Kaman scored 25 points and Maggette added 19 and six rebounds for the Clippers, who shot just 35 percent (26-of-74) and were also dominated on the glass, 53-33.