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Yao Ming's double double cannot stop Pistons
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-20 10:07 Flip Saunders is fitting in
perfectly in his first season with the Detroit Pistons. Detroit improved to 8-0
for the first time since 1988-89 — the season it won the first of back-to-back
NBA titles — with a 78-70 victory in Houston on Friday night.
With a
victory Saturday night in Dallas, the Pistons — 5-0 on the road — will match the
1970-71 squad for the best start in franchise history.
"We're a veteran team. We enjoy going on the road," said Saunders, the
longtime Minnesota coach who took over the Pistons after Larry Brown's
departure.
"You have to play a little bit above the way you usually play," he said. "You
have to have low turnovers and do other things. Like tonight, we had 10 blocks.
The strength of this team is when the offense isn't going, then you can rely on
the defense."
They did just that against the Rockets to overcome a dismal offensive
performance. The Pistons shot 38.8 percent and were outrebounded 52-38, but held
Houston to 38.6-percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers to remain undefeated.
"Records are not what we're after," Chauncey Billups said. "We're just trying
to win every game and get better every night. That's our only focus. ... The
last 5 minutes, we played good Pistons basketball. This was grind-it-out, gutsy
basketball."
In other NBA games, it was: Cleveland 102, Orlando 84; Miami 106,
Philadelphia 96; Boston 100, Toronto 93; Indiana 93, Charlotte 85; Phoenix 102,
Utah 94; Denver 95, New York 86; the Los Angeles Clippers 97, the Los Angeles
Lakers 91; New Orleans 95, Atlanta 92; Sacramento 103, Milwaukee 82; Golden
State 91, Portland 80; and Seattle 98, Chicago 84.
Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 19 points.
Houston star Tracy McGrady scored six points on 3-for-16 shooting. He sat out
the fourth quarter after re-aggravating a back strain.
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