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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns found the perfect
remedy for their losing streak: a game against Detroit in an arena
where the Pistons can't seem to win.
|  | | The Suns' Rodney Rogers, right, rises against Ben Wallace. |
Cliff Robinson had 27 points and Shawn Marion added 18 points
and 16 rebounds to help the Suns snap a three-game losing streak
with a 106-73 rout of the hapless Pistons.
Phoenix led by as many as 34 points to win for the first time
since Jason Kidd left the team after being arrested last week. The
33-point margin was the biggest ever for the Suns against Detroit.
"We've gone through a lot of adversity lately, and we've had a
couple tough losses," Robinson said. "But we are doing a good job
of getting through it, and we came out strong tonight."
The loss was Detroit's seventh in a row at home, three short of
the team record set in 1979-80 and 1993-94.
The Pistons, 2-12 in their last 14 games, set season lows in
points, shooting percentage (29.8) and margin of defeat. They also
shot under 50 percent (15-32) from the free-throw line.
"We hit a wall tonight, but it was a wall called the Phoenix
Suns, and we cowered from it," said Pistons coach George Irvine.
"From one to 11, they looked us in the eye and just beat us."
Tony Delk added 15 points for Phoenix, while Rodney Rogers had
14.
Jerry Stackhouse led Detroit with 19, but was the only member of
the Pistons in double figures.
"Tough way to come back," said Stackhouse, who missed Sunday's
loss to Milwaukee with the flu. "I would have never believed this
could have happened -- not the way we were ready in the locker room.
But we got down 6-0 and everyone panicked. The whole team just
seemed to cringe."
Detroit missed 10 of its first 11 shots, letting the Suns build
a 14-5 lead.
Phoenix led 47-36 at the half, then held Detroit scoreless in
the first four minutes of the second half. The Pistons missed their
first eight shots of the half and fell behind 53-36.
"I don't know what happened -- they run a post play and catch
the ball on the block, and we run the same play and catch it 18
feet from the basket," Irvine said. "Why is that? Coaching? I
don't think so."
Detroit narrowed the gap to 11, 57-46, but the Suns scored the
next 10 points to take a 21-point edge with 3:46 left in the third
quarter.
"I thought the start of the second half was the key," Phoenix
coach Scott Skiles said. "We took control, and when they made a
little run, he kept them away. We played good defense and we stayed
poised."
Phoenix led 77-54 at quarter's end, and cruised to the easy
win.
Game notes
Ben Wallace, one of the league's worst free-throw shooters,
had a rough game from the line. He missed all four attempts,
shooting two airballs and barely grazing the rim on the other two.
That dropped him to 30.3 percent on the year. ... Detroit's 10-game
home losing streaks came in their two worst seasons -- 16-66 in
1979-80 and 20-62 in 1993-94. ... Kidd missed his fourth straight
game and is not with the team on the road trip.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 94
Chicago 86
Phoenix 106
Detroit 73
Miami 103
Toronto 83
Charlotte 81
New York 67
Philadelphia 85
Houston 84
Golden State 109
New Jersey 87
Seattle 114
LA Clippers 110
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Jerry Stackhouse Official Site
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