Pistons Finally Find a Way to End Streak

One streak ended and one kept going.

The Detroit Pistons snapped an 11-game road losing streak Sunday with a 101-99 victory over Vancouver, while the Grizzlies lost for a season-high 12th consecutive time.

Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse led the way as the Pistons won on the road for the first time since a 112-107 victory at Washington on Jan. 15.

Hill had 31 points and Stackhouse finished one point under his average with 23.

Detroit interim Coach George Irvine won the team’s first away game since he took over from Alvin Gentry. Irvine is 5-2 overall.

“It helps a lot to have Grant Hill and Stackhouse in the lineup,” Irvine said. “They’re terrific players and they’re doing it at both ends. They’re really working hard defensively and obviously they can score points.”

The Pistons finish their five-game trip with games at Seattle, Portland, Sacramento and the Clippers.

Minnesota 109, Milwaukee 82--The Timberwolves have never been this good in the standings and rarely have they looked this good on the court, either.

Rookie Wally Szczerbiak scored 27 points and Terrell Brandon had 28 points and 13 rebounds as they moved 13 games above .500 for the first time in their 11-year history.

The Timberwolves (39-26) used a 41-12 third-quarter blitz to rout the Bucks, who have lost 15 of 20 and six in a row on the road.

Toronto 100, Houston 98--Vince Carter’s dunk with 1.6 seconds left at Toronto handed the Rockets their seventh consecutive loss.

Carter, who had 37 points, took an inbounds pass from Tracy McGrady with 11 seconds left. He stood at the baseline for nine seconds before driving past Shandon Anderson for the winning dunk, which gave Toronto its 11th win in 12 games.

Dallas 89, Atlanta 85--The Hawks had gone more than 10 quarters without leading until Jason Terry made a three-point basket with 7:14 left at Dallas to give them an 81-80 lead. It was short-lived. Michael Finley worked inside for a basket with 6:49 left, putting the Mavericks ahead to stay. He made another basket with 4:09 left for an 86-83 lead.

Phoenix 99, Golden State 82--Jason Kidd’s visit to his hometown turned into a painful experience for the Warriors. He had 15 points, 14 assists, nine rebounds and three steals as the Suns won for the 18th time in 23 games.

Kidd, who grew up in Oakland and starred in college at California, came within one rebound of his sixth triple-double of the season.

Utah 92, New Jersey 88--The victory was the 10th in the last 11 games for the Jazz, playing its fifth consecutive road game. The loss, which snapped the Nets’ winning streak at four, was their fourth at home in their last 23 games.

Philadelphia 89, Orlando 85--Allen Iverson had 18 points, a season-high 10 assists and a career-high nine steals and Aaron McKie made two free throws with five seconds left at Philadelphia. Neither team scored from the 3:40 mark until McKie’s foul shots.