Pistons Win 13th Straight, Tie Team Mark

Chauncey Billups started making shots just in time to lead the Detroit Pistons to their franchise record-tying 13th straight win. Billups scored only four points through three-plus quarters, but finished with 18 to lift Detroit to an 85-77 win over the reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

The last time Detroit won 13 straight was 1989-90, the season it won its second straight NBA title. Pistons coach Larry Brown had not won 13 straight in his Hall of Fame career until Monday.

Detroit matched the league’s best winning streak, which was set by the Spurs in December. The Pistons have not lost since New Jersey beat them at home on Dec. 26.

After the Spurs enjoyed slim leads in the final quarter, Billups tied it at 72 with a 3-pointer with a few minutes left.

Billups made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:28 left, and his three-point play put the Pistons up 81-77 with 48.6 seconds to go. He then made all four of his free throw attempts to seal the win.

Tim Duncan had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, but he did not come through when they needed him most.

Duncan missed two free throws when the Spurs were ahead 77-75 with 1:47 left, and his shot was blocked by Ben Wallace on their next possession.

Wallace had 15 rebounds, four steals, three blocks and seven points. Mehmet Okur scored 15 for the Pistons, reserve Chucky Atkins had 14 and Richard Hamilton added 13.

San Antonio’s Hedo Turkoglu scored 14, Charlie Ward had 12 points and Manu Ginobili added 10. A game after Rasho Nesterovic scored a season-high 23 points in a win over Boston, he fouled out with just six points.

Two reserves gave the Spurs a lift in the fourth quarter.

Ginobili scored eight points in the first two minutes of the quarter to put San Antonio ahead 64-59, its largest lead. After Atkins gave Detroit the lead twice on 3-pointers, Ward’s fourth 3-pointer put the Spurs ahead 72-69 with 3:40 left.

Large leads – and made shots – were tough to come by in a matchup of two of the NBA’s top defensive teams. San Antonio made 43.8 percent of its shots, and Detroit shot 41.1 percent.

The Pistons led 38-36 at halftime after eight lead changes and eight ties.

They were ahead by seven in the third – the largest lead for either team – but led just 58-56 by the end of the quarter. Billups had four points on 1-of-8 shooting through three quarters.

Notes:@ San Antonio’s Malik Rose sprained his left ankle in the second quarter and did not return. … The Pistons are 10-5 against the Western Conference, and the Spurs are 11-11 against the East. … Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak to the Spurs. … Brown was San Antonio’s coach from the 1988-89 seasons through part of the 1991-92 season, and current Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was one of his assistants. … Popovich was the best man in Brown’s wedding.