Dallas 98, Detroit 93
Pistons lose to Mavs, 10th in a row
POSTED BY KIRKLAND CRAWFORD
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Jason Terry scord 26 points off the bench and Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Pistons lost, 98-93, to the Mavericks tonight in Dallas for Detroit's 10th straight loss.
Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 20 points. Charlie Villanueva had 17 points and nine rebounds. Rodney Stuckey scored 15 and Chris Wilcox added 12.
Shawn Marion scored 18 points and Josh Howard added 12.
The Mavs led by as many as eight in the fourth quater before Ben Gordon's jumper cut the lead to 92-86 with 2:47 to play. Detroit cut the lead to three, 94-91, on a Stuckey layup with 44.9 seconds remaining and after a Dallas miss, Gordon's jumper made it a one-point game with 14.9 to play.
Nowitzki was fouled on the next play and hit two free throws. Stuckey missed a three on the next possession and Marion's two free throws iced the game.
The Mavericks turned an eight-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead late in the third quarter, where Nowitzki scored 14 and Marion added 10. The teams were tied at 68 after the third.
Dallas began the fourth on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a Josh Howard three-pointer.
Both teams shot reasonably well -- Mavs 44% and Pistons 48% -- but Dallas won the rebounding battle, 46-41. Drew Gooden had 18 rebounds.
Wilcox scored eight points in the first quarter to give the Pistons a 22-14 lead after one.
Villanueva hit four three-pointers in the first six minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 38-24. Dallas trimmed the lead to six, thanks to five points from Jason Kidd. But with three tenths of a second left in the half, Tayshaun Prince hit a running bank shot to give the Pistons a 44-36 lead.
The Mavericks improved to 10-3 in games decided by five points or fewer.
The Pistons will try to end their slide Wednesday night at San Antonio.