Perfect Pistons visit Suns

Tayshaun Prince scored 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and Richard Hamilton added 21, as Detroit spoiled Sacramento’s home opener with a 102-88 victory on Tuesday at ARCO Arena.

Chauncey Billups finished with 16 points and eight assists, while All-Star Ben Wallace pulled down 14 rebounds as the Pistons moved to 4-0 on the young season in a building where they have enjoyed little success in recent years. Detroit had lost eight straight and nine of its last 10 at ARCO Arena. The last time the Pistons defeated the Kings on the road was on February 26, 1996.

The Pistons have not won five straight games to start a season since the 1988-89 campaign, when they won their first eight games. Detroit won the title that season, as it swept the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Detroit will closeout its road trip on Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.

Phoenix will try and get back on the winning track tonight. On Sunday, Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 23 points and made two free throws with 13.3 seconds remaining to lift Sacramento to a wild 118-117 victory over the Suns at America West Arena.

Leandro Barbosa scored 12 of his team-best 23 points in the fourth quarter to help the Suns rally from a 13-point deficit with nine minutes left to play against Sacramento. His three-pointer with 21.5 seconds left gave Phoenix a 117-116 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Abdur-Rahim grabbed the rebound of his own miss and was fouled by Kurt Thomas. He calmly sank both bonus attempts to put Sacramento back in front. The Suns had two chances to win the game, but came up short. Boris Diaw’s reverse layup attempt was blocked out of bounds by Sacramento’s Mike Bibby with 0.7 seconds left and Phoenix’ Brian Grant missed a jumper at the buzzer.

Reigning MVP Steve Nash had 18 points and 13 assists in Sunday’s loss, while Diaw just missed recording a triple-double with 11 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for Phoenix, which had won two in a row after a season-opening loss to Dallas.

The Suns are playing the second of a five-game homestand. They will also host the Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies and the Utah Jazz on the current stand.

The road team has won eight of the last 11 meetings in this series. Detroit has won five of its last seven at Phoenix.