Pistons 92, Bulls 79
Rasheed Wallace had the anger. He also had the focus.
That concoction added up to a dominant performance Saturday night, with the volatile Wallace scoring 26 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to their fourth straight victory, 92-79 over the Chicago Bulls.
Wallace yelled at the officials, picked up a technical - which he has been known to do from time to time. But he never lost his focus.
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``He just makes the opponent look silly to me,'' forward Antonio McDyess said. ``When he gets going like that, it's hard to stop him. We just love to see him when he gets going like that. Just give him the ball and move out of his way.''
Down 15 in the second quarter, the Pistons tied it at halftime and blew out the Bulls 27-10 in the third.
One night after scoring 40 points to lead the Pistons to a 106-98 home victory over the New York Knicks and former coach Larry Brown, Detroit's Richard Hamilton had 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. But his teammates compensated.
Tayshaun Prince and Chauncey Billups scored 17 points apiece, with Billups contributing 11 during the third quarter. He added 11 assists.
Wallace was 8-of-15, 4-for-6 on 3-pointers, and had two steals and five rebounds. He walked onto the court with a chip on his shoulder after scoring three points against New York, and took it out on the Bulls.
``I had to - especially after that performance last night,'' Wallace said. ``I was terrible. I had to come out here and just play. But we got down. They came out smoking in the first quarter. But I knew we would (slow them) down.''
Chicago's Luol Deng followed a season-high 28-point performance in Friday's victory at Boston by scoring a team-high 18. Michael Sweetney added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls (8-7), playing their fourth game in five nights.
Kirk Hinrich was 4-of-13 from the field with nine points, and Chris Duhon missed all three of his shots and scored one point.
``That's a very good team,'' said Chicago's Ben Gordon, who scored 13 points. ``We were in good shape in the first half, but we totally lost our energy in the third quarter. It's tough to come back against a team like that. We struggled on the perimeter tonight.''
Prince gave the Pistons (13-2) their first lead since the game's opening minute, 46-44, when he scored in the lane to start the second half. Hamilton hit a baseline jumper, and from there, the Pistons pulled away.
Billups, who was 0-for-2 with a point in the first half, hit a 3-pointer to make it 51-46. And back-to-back 3s by Wallace and Billups made it 59-48 early in the third.
After picking up a technical foul, Wallace refocused and continued his onslaught on the Bulls, converting a three-point play that made it a 13-point game. His banked jumper from the left wing, over Andres Nocioni, made it 66-49 with 4:42 left.
``Now, he's matured,'' said Detroit's Dale Davis, who witnessed more than a few tantrums by Wallace when they played in Portland. ``He's learned how to take that energy and put it into his game. He might get a technical every once in awhile. Tonight, he let his game speak for itself. He pretty much laughed it off in a way.''
With the Pistons, he's part of an ensemble. He's not necessarily the focal point on offense, which he was with Portland.
``He really knows his role,'' Davis said. ``I don't think there's a lot of added pressure on him. In Portland, we gave him the ball on a constant basis. There were a lot of high expectations.''
Billups added a jumper and a 3 in the final 3:22, and the Pistons took a 71-54 lead into the fourth.
The Bulls, who had won five of six, started strong. But for the second straight night, they saw a 15-point lead disappear in the second quarter - and this time, they lost the game. After rallying from seven down to win at Boston on Friday night, they never recovered once the Pistons made their move.
``It shows you what kind of team they are,'' Deng said of Detroit.
Notes: Wallace now has 5,000 rebounds and 11,455 points in his career. ... With Darko Milicic struggling, Pistons coach Flip Saunders indicated Davis might see more time. Neither played Saturday. Davis has played in just three games, while the 20-year-old Milicic is averaging 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11 appearances. ``It's going to depend on who you play and what you need,'' Saunders said. ``Certain teams, you might not more inside presence defensively, and that's where you're probably going to use Dale. A lot now with that spot is going to depend on matchups.'' ... Saunders was called for a technical foul midway through the first quarter, after a shot-clock violation by the Pistons. ... The Bulls' 35 second-half points were a season low.
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