NBA Game Summary - Milwaukee at Detroit

Auburn Hills, MI (Basketball News) - Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton each scored 25 points, as the Pistons inched closer to clinching the No. 1 seed for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference by rallying from an 18-point deficit for a 112-105 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Rasheed Wallace posted 21 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit, which has a commanding 9 1/2 game lead on Miami for securing home court throughout the Eastern Conference postseason. Antonio McDyess tallied 18 points, while Chauncey Billups contributed 12 points and 11 assists for the Pistons, who moved to 32-3 at the Palace this season.

"I think the one thing that people underestimate is that when there’s adversity and they become challenged they rise up to the occasion," Detroit head coach Flip Saunders said. "They love those types of situations. That’s why this team is built for the playoffs."

Michael Redd’s 37 points topped the Bucks, who failed to take advantage of scoring the first 15 points of the game. They hold the sixth spot in the East, a half game ahead of Indiana. Charlie Bell added 16 points and Maurice Williams ended with 15 points and eight assists for Milwaukee.

"Turnovers hurt us," Redd said. "Execution in the fourth really hurt us. They tightened up a little bit. That’s a championship team and they played like it tonight."

Detroit didn’t lead until there was 7:34 left in the game, as Hamilton made a free throw to make the score 90-89.

The Pistons stretched that margin to 100-92 before the Bucks scored nine in a row to go back in front 101-100 on Redd’s two free throws with 2:25 left.

However, a 10-2 run by the Pistons gave them the lead for good. The big blow came on a Wallace three-pointer, pushing the advantage to 108-103 with 50.4 seconds to play. Prince then sealed the victory with a jumper with 26.4 seconds left to cap the spurt.

A dunk by Jamaal Magloire culminated a furious start for the Bucks at 15-0 with 6:11 elapsed in the opening quarter. The Pistons got most of those points back quick and trailed 27-22 after 12 minutes.

The Bucks led 59-45 at halftime and the advantage reached 18 points at 65-47 early in the third quarter. Their last lead of 18 was 69-51, following a basket by Andrew Bogut 8:45 left in the period. However, a 15-2 run by Detroit cut its deficit to 71-66.

A jumper by Hamilton had the Pistons within 81-78 going into the fourth.

"We just stepped up to the challenge," Billups said. "I didn’t ever think they were going to miss, and we couldn’t hit anything, but we knew it was a matter of time. We’re never out of a game, no matter what the score. You can’t measure our pride. We just had to chase them off the 3-point line and start hitting some shots."