PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups got back to making big shots.
Hamilton scored a season-high 27 points and Billups had 12 of his 24 in the fourth quarter and as the Detroit Pistons salvaged the finale of a four-game road trip with a 100-91 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
The Pistons lost the first three games of their road trip by a combined 13 points, struggling to make shots down the stretch. They had averaged just 17 points in the fourth quarter during the trek before finishing off the Suns.
"We finally got a close-game win," Detroit coach Larry Brown said. "We got stops and shots off execution. I don't think we turned it over or took a bad shot late."
"We've been making a lot mistakes down the stretch on this road trip," Billups said. "To be in this game and learn from our mistakes and execute better, I'm proud of our guys."
Billups buried a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give Detroit the lead for good at 87-84 and spark a 13-4 run. Phoenix's Stephon Marbury answered with a layup, but Billups extended the lead with another 3-pointer.
"They were there for me," Billups said. "The first one, the shot clock was running down. The second one was an isolation. You know how it is, sometimes you hit them, sometimes you miss them. My guys look for me to take a shot of that magnitude and I will take the challenge every time."
After Amare Stoudemire had a dunk for the Suns, Hamilton reeled off seven straight points. He converted a three-point play and made a driving a layup before sinking two free throws for a 97-88 cushion with 39 seconds left.
"We made shots, we defended and we got the ball in the right people's hands and we executed," Hamilton said. "This win makes the ride home a lot smoother."
Ben Wallace had 13 points and 16 rebounds and reserve Corliss Williamson added 11 points for Detroit, which committed just 10 turnovers but scored 24 points off 18 Phoenix miscues.
Shawn Marion had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Stoudemire finished with 17 and 14 for the Suns, who have lost three in a row and five of seven.
"We tried pushing and pushing to get away from them at the end, but they just kept hitting big shots," Marion said. "We were in the perfect position to win the game and just couldn't pull through."
"We're in a slump right now that we need to get out of," Said Marbury, who finished with 19 points. "It's going to come down to the end of games where we need to start making plays. We definitely need to change things as far as the way we are playing."
