Pistons continue march towards title

Chauncey Billups scored a career-high 37 points and added nine assists to lead the way. Richard Hamilton chipped in 25 points for the Pistons, who won their ninth consecutive home game. Tayshaun Prince also reached double figures with 12 while Ben Wallace had 11 points and nine boards for the defending Eastern Conference champions.

The Pistons’ Central Division lead is currently 6.5 games over the Cavaliers and eight games over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Reserve guard Lindsey Hunter, who is recovering from ankle surgery, is not expected to return to action this week, according to the Detroit Free Press. He is shooting for the game with Boston on January 16.

But this Pistons team doesn’t really use its bench that much anyway. Every starter averages more than 34 minutes a game and the combined scoring average for the starting five is 79.6 ppg. The bench contributes just 20 ppg for the team’s 99.7 ppg scoring average.

The Pistons play two more games this week, both against teams without a winning record - Seattle (13-17) and Utah (16-16). The Jazz are on a roll, having won five consecutive games.