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Wizards dazzle Pistons, 104-99
The Washington
Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 104 – 99 Tuesday night in
Washington to maintain their position atop the Eastern Conference.
The win
was the second for the Wizards against the Pistons in less then
a week. The Wizards beat the Pistons Friday night at the Palace.
The Wizards
came out pushing the tempo and got up early on the Pistons. Tayshaun
Prince kept the Pistons in the game by scoring Detroit’s first
seven points. Prince finished the game with 19 points and five rebounds.
Chauncey
Billups scored 25 points and had eight assists for the Pistons.
Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton both chipped in with 15 points
each.
The Pistons
seemed to catch a break early in the game when Antawn Jamison left
the game with 6:29 remaining in the first quarter with a sprained
knee. The Pistons could not capitalize on his absence though, with
DeShawn Stevenson stepping in to fill the void for Washington scoring
15 points.
The Pistons
also had an absence of their own to deal with. Rip Hamilton picked
up his third foul with 10:13 left in the second quarter and was
forced to sit the bench for the remainder of the first half.
Chris Webber also failed to make his presence known for the Pistons
by only scoring 6 points in 28 minutes.
The Wizards
were on fire in the first half shooting 61 percent. Gilbert Arenas,
who led also scorers with 36 points, had six of his 11 assists in
the first quarter.
The Pistons
eventually slowed the Wizards and looked like they might have a
shot at coming back in the fourth quarter from an earlier 19 point
deficit.
Gilbert
Arenas proved to be too much for the Pistons however. He scored
15 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to help put the Pistons
away.
The Pistons
failed to capitalize on an opportunity to move ahead of the Wizards
for first place in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards now sit in
alone in first place a game and a half ahead of the Pistons.
The Pistons
now head to New Jersey to play the Nets Wednesday night. The Pistons
return home Friday to square off against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Return
to our Detroit
Pistons News section.
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to our NBA
/ NCAA Basketball section.
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