Pistons try to stay hot against Clippers

The Pistons come into the game as winners of six straight, which includes all five games so far this month, and will play the fourth game of their current five-game homestand tonight.

Rasheed Wallace scored 18 of his season-high 28 points in the second half, as Detroit continued its domination of the Raptors with a 98-92 victory on Saturday in the stand’s third game.

Richard Hamilton tallied 21 points and eight assists, while Chauncey Billups ended with 14 points and nine assists for the Pistons, who improved to 16-9 at home this season. Detroit will conclude its homestand Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Pistons have won seven straight and eight of their last nine meetings against the Clippers, who have lost five straight and 12 of their last 13 at Detroit. Los Angeles’ last road win against Detroit came way back on February 19, 2001.

LA’s last win in the series overall was at home on November 3, 2002.

The Clippers will wrap up their season-long seven-game road trip that has been anything but successful. The club has lost four of the six games it has played so far on the trek to drop a game under .500 at 25-26.

On Sunday, Jermaine O’Neal scored a team-high 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Clippers, 94-80.

Cuttino Mobley scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 from the floor including 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range for the Clippers. Sam Cassell and Elton Brand each added 14 points apiece for Los Angeles, and Chris Kaman had 10 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Clippers have dropped to 8-18 on the road courtesy of the losing trip and now hold a slim one-game lead over the Hornets and Timberwolves for the eighth playoff spot in the West.

LA opens up a five-game homestand on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.