Hamilton, Pistons Win 10th Straight

[January 03, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- With Richard Hamilton leading the way, the Detroit Pistons are not only winning night in and night out, they're winning easily.

Hamilton's 20 points made him the 10th-leading scorer in franchise history, and he added nine assists and seven rebounds to help Detroit earn its 10th consecutive victory by beating the Washington Wizards 106-93 Wednesday night.

It's the Pistons' longest winning streak since an 11-gamer in January 2006, and the average margin of victory during the current run is 16.8 points.

How lopsided was this one? Detroit led by Butler's 22 points and Antawn Jamison's 21, but they again failed to defeat a top team. Washington's double digits throughout the second half.

The Wizards (15-15) were paced by Caronlast victory over a club with a winning record came Dec. 1 against the Toronto Raptors.

The Pistons, meanwhile, are beating everyone. They improved to 25-7 overall, 17-2 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit coach Flip Saunders was honored Wednesday as the East's coach of the month after his club went 15-2 in December.

"You're happy," Saunders said before the game, "because it shows your team is playing at a high level -- and they played at a high level for 30 days."

Hamilton's been a big part of that, and he now has led Detroit in scoring each of its past six games.

He entered Wednesday needing four points to pass Gene Shue on the Pistons' career scoring list and, surprisingly, didn't get there in the first quarter, shooting only 1-for-4. But the former Wizards player got going with 13 points in the second period.

A total of seven Pistons scored in double figures, including Rasheed Wallace -- like Hamilton, a former Washington player -- with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Detroit used a 10-0 run that began at the end of the second quarter and finished with consecutive 3-pointers by Chauncey Billups to open the third quarter, making it 63-47. That pretty much put an end to the competitive portion of the proceedings, with the Pistons leading by as many as 20.

The Pistons opened the second quarter with a 10-0 spurt to go up 36-27 on Rodney Stuckey's fast-break layup a little more than three minutes into the period. Washington got as close as four points only once the rest of the game, and the half ended with Detroit ahead 57-47.

The Wizards were led in the first half by 11 points from Antonio Daniels, who returned after missing seven games with a sprained right knee. He finished with 18 points and two assists in 36 minutes.

Notes: Wizards reserve F-C Andray Blatche left during the first half with a sprained left foot but returned in the third quarter. ... Pistons F Jarvis Hayes scored 12 points in his first game against his former team; he left the Wizards as a free agent in the offseason. "It's a little weird coming in as a visitor, but that's the name of the game," he said. ... Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis, sitting courtside, drew loud cheers when he was shown on the videoboard. Boos came when the logo of the Seattle Seahawks -- the Redskins' playoff opponent Saturday -- was put on the board in the first quarter. Then again, the jeers were even more vociferous a couple of minutes later, when the screen showed the Dallas Cowboys' logo, followed by shots of QB Tony Romo and WR Terrell Owens.

[Associated Press; By HOWARD FENDRICH]

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