Denver (35-33) at Detroit (44-25)

Game Info: 7:30 pm EDT Mon Mar 26, 2007
TV: NBA, FSD

By JON PALMIERI, STATS Senior Writer

No matter how well they played in their absence, the Detroit Pistons probably don't want to play any more games without Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace.

Wallace will be back in the lineup and Hamilton could also return Monday night as the Pistons look to continue their home dominance over the Denver Nuggets.

With leading scorer Hamilton sidelined with an illness and Wallace - their leading rebounder - serving a one-game suspension, the Pistons (44-25) coasted to a 121-95 victory Sunday at Milwaukee.

Tayshaun Prince scored 28 points and Jason Maxiell had career highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds as Detroit extended its Central Division and Eastern Conference leads to 2 1/2 games over Cleveland.

"He works so hard and gets involved," Prince said of Maxiell, who was making just the sixth start of his two-year career. "Anytime his number is called, he is ready for it and produces. He's going to make something happen no matter what."

Fellow regular bench players Flip Murray and Antonio McDyess also made big contributions, combining for 36 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field.

"These guys could be starters for any other team," Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. "But for us, they are great coming off the bench."

Hamilton's status is uncertain for this game, but Wallace is expected to play after serving an automatic one-game suspension for picking up his 18th technical foul of the season Friday at San Antonio.

The play of Detroit's reserves became even more important Sunday after Chris Webber retreated to the locker room for the entire second quarter with possibly the same illness as Hamilton. Webber finished with two points and missed 7 of his 8 field-goal attempts.

The Pistons avoided matching a season-high three-game losing streak. They play eight of their final 13 games at home, where they are 20-13 this season.

Detroit has also won 10 straight home games against the Nuggets since a 99-88 loss on March 10, 1995. The Pistons have won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the teams overall, including a 95-82 victory at Denver on March 9.

The Nuggets (35-33) also avoided their third straight loss Sunday, finishing strong in a 105-93 victory at Cleveland.

Carmelo Anthony - the league's second-leading scorer - shot 12-for-19 from the floor on his way to 27 points, bouncing back from a season-low 10-point performance in Friday's 121-94 loss to Toronto.

Allen Iverson added 18 points and 12 assists for Denver, which shot a season-best 60 percent from the field and scored the game's final eight points.

"After the last game, as men we had to come out and show our pride," Iverson said.

The win strengthened Denver's grip on seventh place in the Western Conference, moving it two games in front of the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers.

J.R. Smith was a factor for the second consecutive game, scoring 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Smith, who also had five rebounds and four assists Sunday, is averaging 16.5 points in his last two contests after averaging 4.6 in his previous five.


Anybody got any updates on Rip or Webber?

Both Rip and Webber are out.

Flip Murray has a fever of 102 but will try to give it a go.

So much for Max not being able to rebound huh?

Tay eats floor hard. Is fine apparently. Looked like he could have sprained something but he did land correctly on his ass and forearm.

We're shooting a much better %, but got worked 15-2 on the offensive glass. Add an extra 5 turnovers for us and we're lucky it was as close as it was.
However, to play like this without Webber and Rip is nice. But I doubt either of them would have been the answer for Nene and his 8 offensive rebounds.

F%$king Sheed. That 3 cost me my over/under bet. DAMN HIM.............DAMN HIM TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sheed hits a 63 foot 3 for OT. Yeah.

Once again, fuck fans that leave early.

If someone told me that we were shooting >50% and holding off AI and Carmelo and in danger of losing this game, I'd think you were nuts.

WEEEEEE WINNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blaha's call was great, all he could do was keep screaming YEEEESSSS! Hilarious.

great call by blaha, way to grind it out, the nuggets had this game won about 3 times.

Way to go Pistons, with Webber and Rip not playing at that.

orRWbos73rA

F%$king Sheed. That 3 cost me my over/under bet. DAMN HIM.............DAMN HIM TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!


lol, I was in the same boat, had the bet won. Pretty hard to complain, though.

I yelled so loud I woke two of our three kids up.

Hard to tell whose reaction I liked best, Chauncey, Sheed, Blaha, Karl, all priceless.

My favorite part is the angle that lets you see the guys walking up the stairs as the crowd erupts. They turn back like "WTF?" I gotta admit I flipped to another station and came back during a reply looking for player interviews (expecting the game to be over).

[smilie=blaha.gif] [smilie=blaha.gif] [smilie=blaha.gif]

That was awesome.........i never trusted Sheed to hit a three pointer at the end of the game. now i realize it has to be a half courter.

That was awesome.........i never trusted Sheed to hit a three pointer at the end of the game. now i realize it has to be a half courter.


Maybe not a half courter, but sheed does tend to throw it up too hard , maybe just taking it from 26 feet would do the trick.