Villanueva's season-high 30 points help Pistons beat Bobcats 98-75 for 1st winning streak

By LARRY LAGE , Associated Press

Last update: November 11, 2009 - 9:12 PM

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Charlie Villanueva had a season-high 30 points and outscored Charlotte by himself in the third quarter, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 98-75 win over the Bobcats on Wednesday night.

The Pistons have a .500 record after winning two straight for the first time this season.

Gerald Wallace scored 12, Flip Murray had 11 points and Raymond Felton added 10 for the offensively challenged Bobcats, who have lost three straight.

Charlotte started the second quarter with a two-point lead, then got outscored 61-31 over the next two periods.

Villanueva had 18 points in the third — six more than Charlotte's team had in the quarter.

Detroit coach John Kuester beat his mentor, Charlotte coach Larry Brown, who had Kuester on his championship-winning staff with the Pistons in 2004.

Brown said before the game he would have mixed emotions regardless of the outcome.

The Hall of Fame coach had to be completely disappointed, though, with how poorly his team played at both ends of the court.

Charlotte entered the game averaging an NBA-low 85 points a game and didn't even approach that lowly total, settling for jump shots and failing to create shots off the dribble.

The Bobcats' 12-point quarter wasn't even their worse of the season. They scored just 10 in three different quarters against three teams this season.

Detroit didn't have any trouble scoring and it was solid on defense as it has been — surprisingly — so far with its revamped roster.

Ben Gordon, who signed with the Pistons as a free agent along with Villanueva, scored 22 points. Gordon has scored at least 19 points in every game this season.

Detroit's Will Bynum scored 16 points and the 6-foot guard sparked a second-quarter run with a baseline drive and dunk past 7-1 center Tyson Chandler. Rodney Stuckey also scored 16 for the Pistons.

NOTES: Detroit's Richard Hamilton (right ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (lower back) didn't play. Kuester said both players "looked better" earlier in the day, but said he would know more about their status later in the week. ... Detroit's next two games are also against former coaches: Washington's Flip Saunders and Dallas' Rick Carlisle. ... Charlotte fell to 0-4 on the road.