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Pistons capture eighth straight win, burn Bobcats

Feb 11, 2008 - 3:27 AM By Paula Pasche PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- Tayshaun Prince set the tone early and the rest of the Detroit Pistons followed suit.

Prince scored 21 points to lead four others in double figures as the Pistons pushed their winning streak to eight games with Sunday's 113-87 triumph over the Charlotte Bobcats.

All-Star Richard Hamilton poured in 18 points and Antonio McDyess added eight and 12 rebounds for Detroit, which shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from 3-point range en route to its third straight win over Charlotte.

The Pistons topped the Bobcats, 104-85, at home on December 9 and 103-100 in Charlotte on January 12.

Detroit wasted no time taking control, going on a 16-0 run to end the first quarter with a 29-13 advantage, and never looked back.

"(Prince) hit a couple shots I could tell he felt good and his shot was on so, of course, I tried to keep force-feeding him," said Pistons All-Star Chauncey, who had 11 points and seven assists.

"We do a good job of finding the hot hand in the first quarter," Prince said. "Like you said we got Chauncey going in the first quarter last time. I hit my first couple threes and they were looking for me in the first quarter, so whenever we start off good in the first quarter good things happen for us."

Pistons coach Flip Saunders went to the bench early, getting solid minutes for rookie Rodney Stuckey and Jarvis Hayes as the second unit maintained the lead to forge a 55-38 edge at the break.

"It's good to be on the bench in the fourth and watch those guys finish games for us," Prince said. "More importantly in the second quarters they've been doing a good job lately as far as keeping the lead, managing the game, playing confident and bringing a lot of energy to the game."

Charlotte's defense, which had allowed opponents an average of 114 points per game in its five previous losses, was no match for Detroit's balanced offense.

The Pistons shot 48 percent (41-of-85) from the field.

Michigan native Jason Richardson scored 27 points and former Piston Nazr Mohammed added 10 and eight boards for the Bobcats, who dropped their sixth consecutive outing.

"The first quarter we got off to a really slow start, and a lot of it was turnovers early when we didn't get shot opportunities," Bobcats coach Sam Vincent said. "From those turnovers (the Pistons) went down and scored. This Detroit Pistons team is too good to spot them points."

"We played hard from the second quarter on to the fourth, and we picked it up and played with some pride, but we got behind and it was just hard to recover," said Charlotte guard Raymond Felton, who scored 14 points.

Mohammed was making his first trip back to Motown since being traded away for Walter Herrmann and Primoz Brezec on December 14.