Pistons Making Most of Defensive Record

It takes a great defender such as Ben Wallace to truly appreciate the Detroit Pistons’ streak.

The Pistons extended their NBA record by holding an opponent under 70 points for the fourth game in a row in a 98-65 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

“This is a lot of fun,” Wallace said. “We’re playing basketball the right way. Every guy on the team is doing their jobs.”

The Pistons are the first team since the shot clock was implemented in 1954-55 to have a streak of more than two games, and have won the four games by an average of 25 points.

“We can still improve quite a bit, but once we get our nooks and crannies ironed out, we’re going to be heavy contenders,” said Rasheed Wallace, who has helped the Pistons to an 8-1 record since his acquisition from Atlanta.

“I haven’t heard our guys talking about the record, but I know they take a lot of pride in the defense,” Piston Coach Larry Brown said. “We’ve gotten so much better now that we have Ben and Rasheed’s length back there. Our mindset is to defend.”

Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 19 points. Chicago, which played without center Eddy Curry, who has a thigh injury, lost its fourth in a row and had a season-low point total.

The only bad news for the Pistons came when they lost Tayshaun Prince at halftime because of a strained shoulder. His status was not known.

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New Jersey 98, Denver 97 -- Kenyon Martin led the way with 28 points as the Nets regained Jason Kidd in a victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

Kidd returned with eight points and 13 assists in 39 minutes after sitting out four games because of a bone bruise of the left knee. Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 24 points.

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Utah 91, Golden State 77 -- Andrei Kirilenko had 20 points and 15 rebounds at Salt Lake City to help move the Jazz within half a game of Denver for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth. Jason Richardson had 19 points for Golden State, which lost its seventh in a row and hasn’t beaten Utah in Salt Lake City since November 1994 -- a stretch of 19 games.

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Portland 92, Minnesota 79 -- Damon Stoudamire had 28 points as the Trail Blazers overcame an early 9-0 deficit to hand the visiting Timberwolves their third loss in four games. Kevin Garnett had 20 points for Minnesota.

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New Orleans 95, Miami 84 -- Baron Davis had 33 points and 10 rebounds at New Orleans as the Hornets scored 42 points at the foul line to end the Heat’s three-game winning streak. A franchise record-tying 46 free-throw attempts helped the Hornets overcome 35% shooting (24 of 69). Eddie Jones had 18 points for Miami.

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Milwaukee 94, Atlanta 80 -- Keith Van Horn and Michael Redd had 23 points apiece at Milwaukee as the Bucks ended a three-game losing streak. Jason Terry had 20 points for Atlanta.

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Cleveland 106, Toronto 92 -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 30 points at Toronto to lead the Cavaliers to their fifth victory in a row -- their longest winning streak in four years. Cleveland also won its 11th road game, its most since 1997-98. Vince Carter had 19 points for the Raptors.

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Philadelphia 76er forward Glenn Robinson will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair bone chips in his right elbow. No timetable was set for his return. Robinson, the 76ers’ second-leading scorer, has sat out five of the last seven games.