Detroit Pistons Team Report - January 18

(Basketball News) - Chauncey Billups scored 26 points and handed out six assists to lead the Detroit Pistons over the Milwaukee Bucks, 99-94, on Saturday in a Central Division battle at the Bradley Center.

Richard Hamilton added 22 points for the Pistons, who won their 12th straight game.

"The biggest thing is execution," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "We’ve played better as a team in every area."

The Pistons led by as many as 10 in the game, but the Bucks ended the third quarter on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 72-71 entering the final 12 minutes.

The final frame went back-and-forth until Chucky Atkins drilled a three- pointer midway through to give the Pistons an 81-79 edge and they led the rest of the way.

With 27.1 seconds to play, Corliss Williamson drained a pair of free throws to give Detroit a 96-91 lead.

But it wasn’t over as Tim Thomas hit a trey for the Bucks to cut the lead to three with 13.8 remaining.

However, the Bucks were forced to foul not even a second later and Billups sealed the victory with a pair from the stripe.

The Pistons turned the ball over 18 times, but shot 51 percent from the floor and won the battle on the glass, 45-32.

Detroit, which has won four straight on the road, is 11-8 as the visitor this season.

The Pistons are off until Monday when they host the San Antonio Spurs.