AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons still must deal with their six losses on Sundays, but it appears they have figured out how to put away the struggling teams.
They let point guard Rodney Stuckey take the ball to the basket while the crowd chants his last name. It worked well in a 98-92 win against Sacramento on Friday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. "I just took advantage of taking them one on one," Stuckey said after scoring 38 points, two short of the career-high 40 he scored recently against Chicago.
Detroit and Stuckey take a season-high six-game winning streak into Sunday afternoon's game in Los Angeles against the Clippers. The Pistons, 20-11, will attempt to end an 0-6 Sunday skid.
"We are starting to feel real good as a team," said Allen Iverson, who hopped to the bench in joy after hitting a key shot from the corner on a pass from Stuckey with 15 seconds remaining in the game.
"We are starting to have that confidence and swagger we haven't had since the trade."
Iverson, who was traded for Chauncey Billups, finished with 23 points, as did forward Tayshaun Prince.
Forward Amir Johnson and center Kwame Brown were inserted into the starting lineup for Richard Hamilton, who missed a fourth consecutive game with a left groin injury, and Rasheed Wallace, who missed his first with a right foot injury. Antonio McDyess also sat out the game with bruised ribs.
Johnson and Brown started games early in the season but had been relegated to the bench often as the Pistons have experimented with lineups since Iverson's arrival.
Johnson played as if he were making a statement for more playing time. He scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds and had three consecutive baskets in helping the Pistons jump to a 29-18 lead through one quarter. He finished with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
"On our team, we got a lot of guys who can shoot," Johnson said. "I just look for other things to do like rebound and block shots."
Sacramento (8-25) did not go down all that easy. The Kings rallied in the second quarter to trail by one point, 45-44, at halftime, and pulled within three points with 2:43 remaining.
But the Pistons fought off foul trouble and the Kings with Stuckey taking the ball to the basket.
"One thing about Stuckey is when he sees an opportunity to attack, regardless of what the play call is, he attacks," Detroit coach Michael Curry said.
Center Brad Miller led Sacramento with 25 points.
