MILWAUKEE -- Detroit's thorough dominance of the Bucks Tuesday night -- and the entire NBA recently -- made Milwaukee Coach Del Harris wonder how the Pistons have lost at all during the last two months.
James Edwards scored 21 points as Detroit used a 36-12 second quarter advantage to post an easy 117-96 victory over Milwaukee. It was the Pistons' 12th straight victory and 25th triumph in their last 26 games.
'I don't know how they blew that one game,' Harris said of Detroit's Feb. 23 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. 'There are few teams in the history of the NBA that have won 25 of 26.'
Milwaukee, playing without injured starters Jack Sikma and Greg 'Cadillac' Anderson, made only 5 of 23 field goal attempts (22 percent) in the second quarter as Detroit led 57-41 at halftime.
'They started to miss some shots and we tightened up defensively in the second quarter,' Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said.
'Obviously, they're shorthanded a couple of people and that makes a difference, but I thought we played very good defensively through pretty much three quarters,' Daly said.
Detroit, 51-15, improved to 21-12 on the road, tying the Los Angeles Lakers for the best mark away from home.
'We're playing pretty good right now,' Edwards said. 'There's still a little room for improvement. I think we're about where we were last year.'
Milwaukee made 57 percent of its field goal attempts in the first quarter and led 29-21 after one period. But the Pistons used a 10-2 run to open the second quarter and tied it, 31-31, on Mark Aguirre's jumper with 8:45 left.
Detroit broke it open by scoring the final 12 points of the quarter. Joe Dumars, John Salley and Rodman scored 4 points each during the run, capped by Rodman's hook with 2 seconds left to give the Pistons a 57-41 halftime lead.
Milwaukee had four consecutive turnovers in the final 2:52 of the half without taking a shot.
'In the second quarter tonight, we made a lot of breaks for ourselves,' Dumars said. 'We were in our defensive rhythm. For the last 25 to 26 games, we really haven't shot that well. But we've played good defense.'
The Pistons also battered Milwaukee on the boards in the second quarter and finished with a 48-38 advantage.
'They beat us on the boards and we didn't stand much of a chance,' Milwaukee's Larry Krystkowiak said. 'They beat us in so many different ways and they thoroughly whipped us tonight.'
Isiah Thomas scored 19 points and Vinnie Johnson added 18 for the Pistons. Ricky Pierce scored 21 for Milwaukee in his first game after missing two contests with strep throat.
Dumars hit a three-point basket, Edwards canned two free throws and Thomas scored to give Detroit a 77-54 lead with 4:29 left in the third. Dumars jumper with 1 second left gave the Pistons an 88-67 lead after three quarters.
Detroit opened its biggest lead, 99-71, on Thomas' three-pointer with 9:03 left in the fourth quarter.
