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MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ray Allen and the Milwaukee Bucks won an early-season edition of the Long Distance Shootout. Allen scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, when the Bucks turned the tables on the Detroit Pistons with red-hot 3-point shooting and remained unbeaten with a 121-111 victory in their home opener. Sam Cassell scored 28 points for the Bucks, who made 9-of-18 from behind the arc, including 4-of-5 in the decisive final period. At 3-0, Milwaukee is the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. "They're the best shooting team in the NBA from the perimeter with Ray, Cassell and Glenn (Robinson)," Pistons coach Alvin Gentry said. Jerry Stackhouse scored 20 points for the winless Pistons (0-4), who built a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter and made 9-of-20 3-pointers overall. But Detroit was 0-of-2 from beyond the circle in the fourth quarter. "Maybe Detroit ran out of gas in the second half," Bucks coach George Karl said. The frustration is starting to show for the Pistons, who have superstar Grant Hill, no dominant big men and the NBA's worst record. Stackhouse was ejected for throwing the ball at referee Dee Kantner with 4:06 to go. "I'm disappointed about the whole thing, but mostly the loss," Stackhouse said. "We're on a little skid right now, but we'll be all right. It's frustrating because we played well enough to win." After squandering nearly all of the 17-point lead, the Pistons rebuilt the advantage to 94-87 with 9:37 to play on a basket by Christian Laettner, who scored 18 points. The Bucks caught fire from the field, scoring 13 consecutive points to take the lead for good. Dale Ellis made a 3-pointer and an 18-footer before Allen sank two free throws to tie it with 8:08 to go. Allen and Haywoode Workman sank 3-pointers to give Milwaukee a 100-94 lead with 6:36 remaining. "I hadn't felt like a part of the game the first three quarters," said Allen, who was saddled with foul trouble. "So I just decided to come out and leave everything out there in the fourth and if I fouled out, at least I was going to go out hard." It was at least a two-possession game thereafter. Detroit came within two points a minute later but Cassell hit consecutive jumpers. Allen buried a 3-pointer for a 108-101 lead with 3:25 left and Milwaukee led by at least seven points the rest of the way. Ellis scored nine of his 16 points from behind the arc for the Bucks, who shot 51 percent (45-of-89) and committed only 10 turnovers while forcing 21. Robinson scored 15 points and Danny Manning added 11. "It's still early but I haven't been shooting the ball as well as I'd like," said Ellis, a frequent entrant in the Long Distance Shootout and the 1989 winner of the All-Star Weekend event. "I'm getting good looks in this offense and I'm hoping tonight can be a bit of a jump-start." "Ellis stretched the defense to open the offense," Karl said. Hill also scored 18 points and Terry Mills had 12 of his 17 on 3-pointers for Detroit, which also shot 51 percent (42-of-83) and had six players in double figures. Mills also has been an entrant in the Long Distance Shootout. Stackhouse scored 14 points and Lindsey Hunter 12 in the first half as Detroit grabbed a 63-53 lead. Mills buried a trio of 3-pointers and the Pistons extended to 83-66 on Hill's layup with 5:42 left. Robinson scored seven points in an 18-3 surge that closed the quarter and pulled the Bucks within 86-84. "We played well for three quarters," Gentry said. "Then for a five-minute stretch we stopped doing the things that got us there."
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