San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (top right) battles Detroit Pistons forwards Antonio McDyess (bottom) and Rasheed Wallace for a rebound during the second quarter of their NBA game in San Antonio on Thursday.(Photo: Shanghai Daily)

The Detroit Pistons scored an impressive 90-80 road victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday with Rasheed Wallace leading the Eastern Conference contenders with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

The Pistons emerged the stronger from the match-up between two teams who could meet in the NBA finals as Detroit ended a two-game losing streak and improved their record to 27-9, the second-best mark in the league.

"I think there was no question that we were going to come out tonight with great focus and play well, as it came to be a physical game in the second half," Detroit coach Flip Saunders told reporters.

The Spurs lost their second straight game and fell to 23-11, 17-3 at home.

The Pistons, in the second game of a four-game road trip over five nights, fashioned a 22-2 explosion in the first half. They led by 15 points after the first quarter and were never really threatened.

"It's usually tough to play against a great team like San Antonio and get up in points like that and maintain that, because you then have to withstand runs, especially while playing on their home court," Saunders added.

Richard Hamilton scored 18 points and Tayshaun Prince 17 for the Pistons, who still have to go to Charlotte and New York on this trip.

"Perseverance. I guess that is the word," Wallace said. "We are a veteran team and we showed that tonight in the way we erased a blowout last night, and that's a good thing.

"We could lose five or six in a row and it wouldn't matter. Nobody is going to hang their heads and mope around."

Tim Duncan scored 24 points and hauled down 15 rebounds for the Spurs. Tony Parker scored 12 points but shot just 4-for-13 from the field.

"The Pistons didn't play well last night (Wednesday) against Dallas and good teams always come back," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

"Detroit had good focus, good energy and they want to play well and they did." 

The Spurs got as close as eight points late in the game but lost on a night that saw them turn the ball over 15 times.

In Sacramento, California, John Salmons had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help Sacramento rally late in the fourth quarter for a 116-113 victory over Memphis.

Down by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Kings got back in the game with a 10-2 run and pulled ahead behind the clutch play of Salmons, Francisco Garcia and Brad Miller, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Rudy Gay scored 31 points for Memphis, which lost its second straight and has dropped 18 consecutive games in Sacramento. Pau Gasol had 19 points, Mike Miller made four 3-pointers and scored 18, Michael Conley had 15 and Juan Carlos Navarro had 10 points and six assists.

In Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur scored 22 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, and Utah routed a tired and short-handed Phoenix 108-86.

Deron Williams added 17 points and 11 assists and Ronnie Brewer tied his career high with 21 points for the Jazz, who had an advantage from the start with three Suns starters unavailable.

Two-time league MVP Steve Nash was home with the flu, Grant Hill was recovering from an appendectomy the day before and Shawn Marion sat behind the bench with a bruised elbow. The Suns had also played an overtime game the night before and were overwhelmed by the Jazz in the second half.

Utah outscored Phoenix 28-12 in the third quarter, holding the Suns to just five field goals and closing the period with seven straight points.

Carlos Boozer added 18 points for the Jazz, but had just one rebound as Okur dominated the lane and missed his career high by one rebound.

(Shanghai Daily/Agencies January 12, 2008)