Pistons Pound Bucks

When the Detroit Pistons started the season with four straight losses, Grant Hill wanted to reach the .500 mark by the end of November.

After Sunday night's 113-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pistons are on their way.

The Pistons have won three straight and five of seven, and can reach Hill's short-term goal with a win Thursday at Indiana.

Detroit outrebounded Milwaukee 43-28, including 36-18 in the final three quarters.

"I've been telling the guys that we can't run if we don't get rebounds, and they have really stepped it up," said Pistons coach Alvin Gentry. "Grant and Jerry (Stackhouse) are really making a conscious effort to help the big guys on the boards."

Lindsey Hunter scored 21 and Stackhouse had 19 for Detroit, who blew a 17-point second-half lead in a 121-111 loss in Milwaukee on Nov. 6.

"That game was important for us tonight, because we knew just what they were capable of doing," Hunter said. "We had total control of the game and let them take it away. We weren't going to let that happen again tonight."

Ray Allen led the Bucks with 33 points on 13-of-15 shooting. He also added 10 assists.

"You might think I'm nuts, but we even played good defense on Ray Allen," Gentry said. "We made him work for the shots - he just hit them. I've been saying that he's one of the best guards in the league, and he hasn't done anything to change my mind."

Allen, hough, downplayed his offensive output.

"I felt good out there, but it didn't matter," he said. "We got knocked down tonight, and now we have to get back up and find happier times."

Detroit led 35-32 after the first quarter, and turned the game around in the second, holding the Bucks to just 20 points.

"The first quarter was a little higher pace than we needed, but we got better in the last three quarters," Gentry said. "We really locked in defensively."

The Pistons took a 62-51 halftime lead, and extended the margin to 17 by scoring the first six points of the second half.

The Bucks cut Detroit's lead to 75-63, but Hill scored six in a 11-2 surge that moved the margin to 21 points.

Detroit led 89-72 after three, and by 28 in the fourth.

"We just got our butts whipped tonight," Milwaukee coach George Karl said. "It's a combination of everything what we did and what they didn't do. We're a little broken right now, and we have to fix it."

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