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Pistons hold Spurs to 83-68
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-13 14:09
SAN ANTONIO - Rasheed Wallace scored 27 points and the Detroit Pistons again
held the San Antonio Spurs to a season low in points, beating the defending NBA
champions 83-68 on Thursday night.
San Antonio Spurs'
Tim Duncan reacts during the second half of his NBA game in San Antonio,
Texas, January 12, 2006. The Pistons defeated the Spurs 83-68.
[Reuters] | The Pistons — making their first visit
to San Antonio since losing Game 7 of the NBA finals last June — dominated from
the start. They used accurate shooting and stingy defense to build a 20-point
lead in the first half before the Spurs could get anything going.
San Antonio scored the first six points of the third quarter to trim
Detroit's advantage to 48-42, but the Pistons outscored the Spurs 21-9 over the
rest of the period to restore their lead to 69-51.
The Spurs pulled to within 71-61 on a layup by Tim Duncan with 5:46
remaining, but Richard Hamilton answered with a pair of jumpers to quash the
rally.
The win gives Detroit a sweep of the season series between the teams with the
NBA's two best records. The Pistons, tops at 28-5, beat the Spurs 85-70 at home
on Christmas Day in what had been San Antonio's lowest-scoring game until
Thursday.
Detroit outrebounded the Spurs 56-32 and had 25 assists, 14 of them by
Chauncey Billups. San Antonio had only nine assists as a team.
Hamilton scored 22 points and Tayshaun Prince added 13 points and 12
rebounds. Rashed Wallace had 10 rebounds and Ben Wallace 10 rebounds.
Duncan and Tony Parker each scored 17 points for San Antonio and Manu
Ginobili contributed 16. Duncan had 13 rebounds.
Rasheed Wallace scored the first three baskets of the game and Detroit's
defense closed off the paint for the Spurs, who missed all but one of their
first seven shots.
A layup by Parker gave San Antonio a 9-8 lead, but Prince made two layups and
a jumper to ignite a 20-6 run by the Pistons to end the first quarter.
On defense, Ben Wallace blocked a drive by Ginobili that led to a transition
jumper by Rasheed Wallace, and later Ben Wallace blocked Duncan under the Spurs'
basket.
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