Bucks beat slumping Pistons 92-86

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.(AP) Teams aren't as uncomfortable playing at the Palace as they used to be. At least not visiting teams.Richard
Jefferson scored 29 points and Ramon Sessions added 17 and the
Milwaukee Bucks beat Detroit 92-86 on Tuesday night, sending the
Pistons to their 14th home loss of the season.Detroit is 2-9 at the Palace in the last six weeks, a year after going 34-7 at home."You
are supposed to play your best basketball at home, and we obviously
aren't doing that,'' Allen Iverson said. "I don't think there's any
focus. It's easy to be focused when you are on the road and have 20,000
of their fans cheering against you, but you can't come home and expect
your fans to win the games for you. They help, but you've got to play.''The
Bucks overcame 24 points and 14 rebounds from Antonio McDyess to pull
within two games of Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings.Malik Allen added a season-high 14 points for Milwaukee, which won its third straight."Our
guys were flawless when it came to executing the game plan,'' Milwaukee
coach Scott Skiles said. "We got up on their shooters, which we didn't
do last week. We contested shots and made them miss.''Richard Hamilton had 22 points for the Pistons, who have lost four straight."People
look at this team and see three faces from the 2004 championship, but
this is a different team,'' Detroit coach Michael Curry said. "We've
tried some things to get this team more used to playing well here, but
we just aren't playing good basketball anywhere right now.''Curry
juggled the starting lineup again, putting McDyess in place of Amir
Johnson, but it didn't help in the first half. Milwaukee led by as many
as 17 on their way to a 50-37 halftime lead. Jefferson had 19 points in
the half.The Pistons continued to struggle offensively in the
third quarter, but were still within 11 points until Malik Allen's
buzzer-beating jumper gave the Bucks a 74-61 lead going into the final
period.Milwaukee had a double-digit lead with 8 minutes left,
but the Pistons pulled within 80-79 on McDyess' three-point play 2
minutes later.Sessions, who had 44 points against the Pistons on
Feb. 7, helped Detroit by missing two free throws, but Jefferson kept
Milwaukee in front with a three-point play and a 3-pointer.McDyess made it 88-86 with a minute to play, but Jefferson made one free throw at the other end.Stuckey missed a short jumper, and the Bucks clinched the game from the line."We
had a three or four-minute stretch where we slipped up a bit, but it
wasn't much,'' Skiles said. "We relied on our defense, got some stops
when we needed them and fought for the win.''Notes: McDyess
became the 10th player to start for the Pistons this season. ...
Detroit is 23-25 since Allen Iverson joined the team after being
acquired for Chauncey Billups. ... The Pistons were trying for their
first ever season sweep of Milwaukee.