Pistons Win Ten Straight
Rip Hamilton Becomes Pistons' Tenth Top All-Time Scorer
The Detroit Pistons might be a good reason why Boston Celtics' fans shouldn't consider an Eastern Conference championship in the bag quite yet. Detroit has won ten straight after defeating the Washington Wizards 106-93 on January 2, 2008. In that game, guard Richard "Rip" Hamilton scored 20 points to make him the 10th-leading scorer in Pistons' history. During the streak, Detroit has beaten opponents by an average of 16.8 points and this is the team's longest winning streak since winning 11 straight in January 2006.
"Another game where most of our starters could sit and watch most of the fourth quarter and watch our young guys develop," said point guard Chauncey Billups.
The Pistons' youngsters have stepped up this season and given the team some much-needed depth coming off the bench. Leading the reserves is forward Jason Maxiell, whose hustle and athleticism has earned him about nine more minutes per game this season from last season. He's averaging 9.3 ppg, 5.7 rbpg and 1.3 bspg in about 23 minutes a night.
For the season as a whole, Detroit holds opponents to just 89.4 ppg on average, which is second only to conference rivals, the Boston Celtics, who hold their opponents to just 87.0 ppg. The Pistons are tied as a the fifth best shot-blocking team in the league, averaging 5.4 per game; turn the ball over fewer times than any other team in the league (11.3 per game), while dishing out the third most assists per game in the league (23.6 per game); and are tied with the LA Lakers for having the fourth best field goal percentage in the league (46.9%). All this makes for a great NBA recipe for success.
Detroit is running away with the Central Division with a 25-7 record (10 games ahead of the second place Cleveland Cavaliers and 10.5 games ahead of the third place Indiana Pacers). They trail only the 27-3 Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference and if the NBA Playoffs were today, the Pistons would face off against the struggling New Jersey Nets.
Detroit is led by Hamilton, who averages 18.2 ppg, 4.5 apg, while shooting 49% from the field; point guard Chauncey Billups, who averages 17.3 ppg, 7.5 apg, while shooting 90.6% from the foul line; Tayshaun Prince, who averages 13.6 ppg, 4.8 rbpg; and Rasheed Wallace, who averages 12.6 ppg, 7.1 rbpg, 1.2 spg and 1.3 bspg.
The Pistons were 53-29 last season and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
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