Vince Carter led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds as the Phoenix Suns snapped a four-game losing streak by turning up the defense in a 92-75 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Jared Dudley scored 19 points off the bench for the Suns, who switched up their rotation by moving Mickael Pietrus into the starting lineup and bringing Channing Frye off the bench.
Last in the NBA in scoring defense, Phoenix came in surrendering an average of 110 points per game and fresh off a 123-110 home loss to the light-scoring Philadelphia 76ers.
The Suns, however, looked like a different team on Friday, holding the Pistons to 32 points in the first half to open up an 18-point lead.
Detroit bounced back a bit in the third, closing with a 9-0 run to pull within 68-58 going into the fourth quarter. But Phoenix locked down on defense again in the fourth quarter, holding the Pistons to one field goal over the first five minutes to open the lead back up to 83-60 and put the game away.
Ben Gordon scored 19 points and Tayshaun Prince added 12 for Detroit.
Detroit | Phoenix | |
Ben Gordon 19 | Scoring | Vince Carter 19 |
Ben Gordon 3 | Assists | Goran Dragic 5 |
Austin Daye 8 | Rebounds | Vince Carter 8 |
Will Bynum 3 | Free Throws Made | Jared Dudley 4 |
Ben Wallace 3 | Steals | Grant Hill 3 |
Tracy McGrady 2 | Blocks | Goran Dragic 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Detroit | 75 | 40.8 | 5-20 | 8-18 | 18 | 40 | 4 | 11 | 14 |
Phoenix | 92 | 47.9 | 12-27 | 12-18 | 21 | 38 | 1 | 7 | 17 |