SAN ANTONIO — Ben Wallace's return from a six-game suspension couldn't help the Detroit Pistons overcome San Antonio, with Tony Parker scoring 20 points and Brent Barry hitting two critical free throws in the final seconds as the Spurs held on for a rugged 80-77 victory Friday night.
The game matching the last two NBA champions saw the Pistons nearly come all the way back from a 21-point deficit against the Spurs, who won the league title two years ago.
Chauncey Billups scored all of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including a long 3-pointer that cut the Spurs lead to 78-77 with 7.9 seconds left.
But the Pistons fouled Barry three seconds later and he hit both free throws for his only points of the night.
Malik Rose then stole the Pistons inbounds pass, but missed both free throws. Rasheed Wallace's desperation 3-pointer sailed over the backboard at the final buzzer.
Ben Wallace was back in the lineup after his suspension for his role in last month's brawl with the Indiana Pacers and fans.
There was definitely more rust than fight in Wallace's game against the Spurs. After spending his suspension watching Pistons games from his home in suburban Detroit, Wallace played 33 minutes but had a miserable night, finishing with five points on 2-of-9 shooting with nine rebounds.
The physically imposing anchor of the Detroit defense under the basket, Wallace didn't have a rebound in the first quarter, barely hit the rim on a free throw and Tim Duncan posted him up before throwing down a dunk in the second.
Even with him struggling, the Pistons fought back from an 11-point deficit in the first quarter to make it 34-33 in the second before the Spurs closed the half with a 12-4 run.
Rose scored seven in the run and Duncan swished a buzzer-beater 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 46-37 at halftime. Duncan finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds.
The Spurs seemed to take the Pistons out of it a 16-5 run to open the third. Manu Ginobili hit a 3-pointer, Ben Wallace had a turnover on Detroit's first possession and Duncan followed a rare missed dunk with a tip-in bucket.
By then, the Spurs had kicked up the pace, pushing the ball upcourt after every rebound to score quick buckets in transition. Parker split Antonio McDyess and Billups with a spinning layup in the lane that made it 63-42.
That's when they nearly gave it away with a rash of turnovers and poor shooting as Billups started heating up. The Pistons outscored San Antonio 29-17 in the final period.
MAGIC 104, KNICKS 98: At New York, Cuttino Mobley scored 34 points in his second game back from a groin injury and made two key hustle plays down the stretch to lead Orlando past New York in a matchup of first-place teams. Mobley had an offensive rebound and a steal off an inbounds pass during the final 45 seconds to help snap New York's six-game home winning streak.
WIZARDS 114, HAWKS 90: At Atlanta, Larry Hughes scored 19 points and Juan Dixon added 17, and Washington went four games over .500 for the first time in almost three years. The Hawks' eighth straight loss left them with their worst record (2-13) after 15 games since moving to Atlanta in 1968. Antoine Walker had 26 points for the Hawks.
CELTICS 91, RAPTORS 89: At Boston, Gary Payton saved his biggest contribution for last, going scoreless for the first time in Boston but stealing the ball in the final seconds to help the Celtics win. Mark Blount, who had 22 points, hit the go-ahead basket with 34 seconds left and Paul Pierce added two free throws to give Boston a four-point lead with 24 seconds to play.
GRIZZLIES 94, 76ERS 86: At Memphis, Pau Gasol had 34 points and 15 rebounds to lead Memphis in the Grizzlies' first game under new coach Mike Fratello. Gasol hit 12 of 19 shots from the field as Memphis ended a week of coaching disarray and a five-game losing streak.
Philadelphia lost its third straight, and has lost six straight road games.
HEAT 105, BULLS 81: At Chicago, reserve Christian Laettner scored 23 points, — Eddie Jones 21 and Shaquille O'Neal 18 for Miami. When O'Neal went to the bench with his fourth foul at the 3:29 mark of the third quarter, the Heat had a 72-64 lead. Instead of struggling, they went on a 14-4 run — including 10 straight — to pull away.
TIMBERWOLVES 97, SUNS 93: At Phoenix, Kevin Garnett had 23 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists, and Minnesota ended the Suns' nine-game winning streak. Sam Cassell scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Timberwolves win their fourth in a row and hand the Suns just their third defeat in 16 games. Garnett had 11 offensive boards, and has 65 rebounds in the last four games.
Latrell Sprewell scored 22, making 4-of-5 3-point shots.
Amare Stoudemire had 28 points but only four rebounds, Shawn Marion 21 points and 18 rebounds and Steve Nash 22 points and eight assists for the Suns, who were 2-for-18 from 3-point range.