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Pistons Rout Grizzlies, 92-67

(AP) – Tayshaun Prince scored 16 points and Antonio McDyess added 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead the streaking Detroit Pistons to a 92-67 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

The Pistons, who have won four straight and 11 of 13, got 14 points each from Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton. Rookie Arron Afflalo added a career-best 12.

Detroit’s more-heralded rookie, Rodney Stuckey , made his NBA debut in the fourth quarter. Stuckey, the 15th pick in June’s draft, missed the first 25 games with a broken hand.

Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 18 points, but added to Memphis’ offensive problems by missing a pair of wide-open dunks. Pau Gasol returned to the Memphis lineup after missing four games with a toe injury. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes, but went 4-for-14 from the floor as Memphis shot 33.8 percent.

The Pistons led 42-38 at the half, missing seven of eight 3-point attempts. Hamilton had 12 points in the half.

Rasheed Wallace ‘s 3-pointer early in the third kicked off an 8-2 run that gave the Pistons a 52-45 lead, and they expanded the margin to 68-54 at quarter’s end.

The Grizzlies had seven turnovers in the third and six field goals. Gay didn’t help when he missed his second dunk, then was called for offensive goaltending while trying to hang on the rim and catch the bounce.

Detroit pulled away in the fourth while both teams emptied their benches.

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Sports Sports Feature

Grizzlies Lose to Pistons, 113-103

The Grizzlies fell behind by 15 points in the first quarter and were never able to catch up in losing to the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at the FedExForum.

The Pistons led by as many as 24, before the Griz closed the gap to 8 in the fourth quarter. But Detroit made its free throws and held off a late Memphis charge.

Rudy Gay led Memphis with 20 points, while Richard Hamilton scored 30 for Detroit and Chauncey Billups had 28. For complete stats and boxscore, go here. For chat and analysis, see Beyond the Arc, the Flyer’s Grizblog.

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Sports Sports Feature

Chauncey Billups’ Wife: “I’m NOT moving to Memphis.”

From the Detroit News: “Piper Billups’ ears perked up when the chatter at the nail salon turned to her husband, Pistons player Chauncey Billups.

“One woman announced Billups was leaving Detroit to sign with Milwaukee. Another brought up Los Angeles and Memphis, which piqued Piper Billups’ interest.

“‘Hmmm, I never heard that,’ Piper Billups laughed, while recounting the scene. ‘I was sitting up there thinking, Did you hear it from me? I am not moving to Memphis.'”

The story goes on to detail the Pistons’ efforts to retain Billups. It does not explain why Piper Billups thinks Detroit is so swell, compared to Memphis. She just might need to get out more.