By John McMullen
The Phanatic Magazine
Tayshaun Prince scored 30 points and pulled down six rebounds as Detroit crushed Philadelphia, 96-75, at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Richard Hamilton added 18 points for the Pistons, who won for the sixth time and seven games and are now 2 1/2 games ahead of Cleveland for both the Central Division and Eastern Conference lead. Flip Murray and Rasheed Wallace both added 12 points apiece.
Detroit native Willie Green had 20 points for the Sixers, who have dropped four of five games. Andre Miller finished with 16 points, while Joe Smith came off the bench to pull down 17 boards.
The Pistons were without star guard Chauncey Billups, who sat out with a strained left groin, but they did have a motivated Chris Webber. Webber was competing against the Sixers for the first time since they bought out his contract in early January after a disastrous stay in the City of Brotherly Love.
Webber was limited to 18 games with the Sixers this season because of ankle and foot injuries, although the team often felt Webber was trying to force his way out of a bad situation. The former All-Star finished with nine points and seven boards against his old mates.
Detroit entered the final quarter with a 10-point lead and quickly put things away with a 14-0 run. Wallace highlighted the burst with a pair of threes to give the Pistons a commanding 84-60 bulge with 9:06 left.
The Sixers never got closer than 19 points the rest of the way as Detroit coasted to the finish line.
The Pistons took a slim 26-23 advantage after the opening quarter and closed the second quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 49-41 edge at intermission.
Detroit then distanced themselves early in the third quarter behind Prince. The lanky swingman dropped in three buckets, including a three, as the Pistons swelled their advantage to 59-45 with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the frame.
The Sixers settled down a bit from there but still trailed 70-60 heading to the final frame.
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