Pistons top Wizards again
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Charlie Villanueva led five Detroit players in double figures with 19 points as the Pistons downed the Washington Wizards, 96-87, at the Verizon Center.
Rodney Stuckey added 18 points and eight assists and Greg Monroe chipped in with 13 points and eight boards for the Pistons, who beat the Wizards 100-68 in Detroit on Friday.
"It was a great win. We got a little rattled with their press in the third quarter, but we came through with a great win," Stuckey said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Jason Maxiell and Brandon Knight added 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the triumph.
Jordan Crawford poured in a game-high 21 points while Emeka Okafor and Bradley Beal added 14 points apiece for Washington, which has dropped seven straight to fall to an NBA-worst 3-22.
"Right now we are in a funk, we have to get ourselves out of it," Crawford said. "Everybody is second guessing themselves, we just have to continue to work."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The theme remained the same Saturday as the Pistons raced out to a 22-13 lead after the first 12 minutes. Detroit opened the game with a 12-2 run capped off with Knight's four-point play at the 5:49 mark. A Tayshaun Prince turnaround jumper put the Piston up 22-9 with 51.9 seconds remaining in the frame, but the Wizards scored the final four points of the period to cut the deficit to nine.
Beal's jumper 2 1/2 minutes into the second stanza pulled the Wizards within 27-20, but Detroit countered with a 20-10 run to go up 47-30 with 3:15 left in the first half. The Pistons outscored Washington 7-5 the rest of the way to take a 54-35 lead into the break.
The Wizards pulled within 64-58 with just under four minutes left in the third, but the Pistons outscored Washington 10-6 the rest of the way to hold a 74-64 advantage entering the final frame.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The Pistons pushed their spread to 85-72 with just over three minutes played in the fourth, but the Wizards used a 9-3 surged, capped off with a Crawford 3-ball, to pull within 88-81.
Washington couldn't get closer than nine the rest of the way as the Pistons improved to 9-21 this season.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Detroit dominated the offensive glass hauling in 19 offensive rebounds and outscoring Washington 23-6 on second-chance points ... The Wizards shot just 37.7 percent (29-for-77) from the floor and were a dreadful 4-for-21 from behind the arc.