Pistons Send Message With Sweep of Spurs

The Detroit Pistons handed the defending NBA champions another lopsided loss.

Rasheed Wallace had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Detroit to a 83-68 victory Thursday night over the Spurs in the Pistons’ first visit to San Antonio since losing Game 7 of the NBA Finals in June.

Detroit dominated from the start in a matchup of the teams with the league’s best records. The Pistons, now 28-5, used sharp shooting and stingy defense to build a 20-point lead in the first half before the Spurs could get anything going.

“We knew it was going to be a fun one,” said Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups, who had 14 assists. “I personally wanted to get Sheed aggressive. When our big men are aggressive, we get buckets in the paint. We’re just really difficult to play.”

The win gives Detroit a sweep of the season series. The Pistons won at home, 85-70, on Christmas Day in what had been the Spurs’ lowest-scoring game. Detroit also won in San Antonio for the first time since April 1997, before Tim Duncan (17 points and 13 rebounds) became a member of the Spurs.

Detroit outrebounded the Spurs, 56-32, and had 25 assists to San Antonio’s nine, also a season low.

Phoenix 112, Golden State 99 -- Steve Nash had 20 points and 16 assists and all five starters scored in double figures as the host Suns never trailed in winning for the eighth time in their last 10 games.

Baron Davis scored 22 for Golden State, which fell below .500 for the first time this season.

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Steve Francis was suspended indefinitely by the Orlando Magic for what the club said was “conduct detrimental to the team.” The Orlando Sentinel reported that Francis was punished for refusing to re-enter Wednesday’s loss at Seattle.