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Sat. Final: Pistons 87, Bucks 76Next game: Tuesday, December 30 at San Antonio MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Tayshaun Prince scored nine of his 19 points in the decisive third quarter and Allen Iverson added 18, lifting the Detroit Pistons to an 87-76 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. The Pistons beat Milwaukee for the 10th time in 13 meetings since the 2005-06 season. Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Rodney Stuckey added 16 points for Detroit, which has won three straight and six of eight. The Bucks' three-game winning streak was snapped. Andrew Bogut had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee, which shot 30 percent and mainly rested its starters for the final 15 minutes after the game was decided. Michael Redd, the Bucks' leading scorer, had four points and missed nine of 11 shots, including his last five. The Pistons missed their first five shots of the second half and Luke Ridnour's jumper gave Milwaukee its last lead, 48-46, with 10:35 left in the quarter. Stuckey then tipped in his own missed layup to tie the score at 48, starting a 27-5 run in which Detroit made 11 of 15 shots to take a 73-53 lead on Prince's free throw with 19 seconds left in the period. Prince had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal in the third. The Bucks missed 14 of 17 shots during one third-quarter stretch as Detroit took a commanding lead that it never relinquished. Milwaukee was so out of synch that coach Scott Skiles went with a lineup of Malik Allen, Joe Alexander, Tyronn Lue, Dan Gadzuric and Ridnour with 3:40 left in the third quarter, leaving most of the starters on the bench the rest of the way. It didn't help as Detroit outscored the Bucks 10-4 to lead 75-55 after three quarters, and Milwaukee never got within single digits again. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Ramon Sessions added 12 points for Milwaukee. The victory gave Detroit a pair of wins in two nights. The game was a breather compared with the 90-88 victory over Oklahoma City on Friday night when Iverson hit a running jumper with 0.3 seconds left. Wallace and Iverson each scored 10 points in the first half as Detroit took a 46-44 lead into halftime. Notes: Detroit G Richard Hamilton missed the game with a groin injury that he re-aggravated Friday night against Oklahoma City. ... Milwaukee G Damon Jones joined the team. Jones was obtained in an offseason trade, but he hasn't played for the Bucks by mutual agreement as they worked with his agent in an attempt to work out another trade. When a deal never materialized, Jones reported to the team Saturday night and was inactive. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
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