Pistons pound Kings in Artest's return to Palace

Jan 21, 2007, 3:50 GMT

Auburn Hills, MI - Richard Hamilton led a balanced attack with 19 points, and the Pistons used strong defense to post a 91-74 victory over the Sacramento Kings in Ron Artest's return to the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Artest was a member of the Indiana Pacers when the infamous brawl took place on November 19, 2004. That contest turned into an out-of-control melee. NBA Commissioner David Stern showed no mercy as he suspended Artest for the remainder of the 2004-05 campaign for his part in the brawl and also penalized other key figures in the incident for a significant amount of time.

Artest ended with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists Saturday night, as the Kings were held to their fewest total of the season in their eighth defeat in nine games.

'It was fine coming back. It was just another game,' said Artest, who sported a mohawk. 'We played good for a little bit, then made some defensive mistakes and they started making a lot of shots. We just weren't able to get any offense going.'

Tayshaun Prince added 17 points for Detroit, which has won back-to-back games for the first time since a five-game winning streak, December 16-26. Antonio McDyess had 12 points and Chris Webber contributed 11 points and 10 boards in his second start in a Pistons uniform.

'We had good energy early,' Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. 'The first 18 minutes I thought we played very solid. We played very good as a team. Chris did a nice job.'

Corliss Williamson had 17 points to lead Sacramento, which was held to 35.5 percent from the field.

McDyess' layup capped eight straight points by the Pistons for a 22-10 lead before the Kings scored the final two points of the quarter.

A McDyess jumper extended Detroit's advantage to 31-14 with 9:42 remaining in the half, and it started to become a rout when Rasheed Wallace's jam made it 41-19 with under five minutes remaining in the half.

Detroit's lead stood at 48-34 at the break, but Artest's jumper pulled the Kings within 49-39. The Pistons then pulled away for good, ending the quarter on an 18-3 spurt for a 75-49 bulge.

The Pistons used reserves almost the entire final quarter.

Game Notes

Mike Bibby had 11 points and just two assists for the Kings. He has 4,000 assists for his career. In the last meeting between these teams, a 99-86 Kings win, November 8 at Sacramento, Bibby surpassed the 10,000-point mark for his career.

Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Todd Jones was in attendance.

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