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Pistons put win streak on the line vs. Clippers

Jan 4, 2009 - 2:57 PM Detroit (20-11) at LA Clippers (8-24) 3:30 p.m. EST

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Detroit Pistons are finally starting to resemble the team everybody wanted to see - or at least thought they might see - when they ended the Chauncey Billups era in November in favor of an Allen Iverson/Rodney Stuckey duo.

Now they just have to hope to avoid another setback. Already winners of a season-high six games, the Pistons try to extend that to seven on Sunday when they visit the struggling Los Angeles Clippers.

After an up-and-down first two months of the season, the Pistons have gotten back to the stingy defense that has come to characterize the club for the better part of this decade. They have held seven straight opponents under 100 points - and that jumps to 10 in a row if it's just in regulation.

Along the way, the veterans of the team's past playoff runs have come to co-exist with newcomers to the roster - namely Iverson and Stuckey. The past two weeks have seen the emergence of the second-year point guard, who has had a pair of career performances during the Pistons' win streak.

He scored 40 points in a December 23 victory over Chicago, then put up 38 and seven assists on Friday in a win over Sacramento.

But despite their six-game streak, the Pistons will have to be careful - they've made an occasional habit of losing to teams they should easily defeat, falling to the likes of Minnesota and Washington.

The Clippers are right there alongside the T-Wolves and Wizards at the league's basement. They have lost six straight and are averaging just 86.0 points per game during that span.