Rasheed Wallace has been called for so many technical fouls in his career he rarely lets one affect his game. Sometimes he even uses them as motivation.
After being hit with a technical with 15 minutes remaining, Wallace scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, to help the Detroit Pistons rally from 10 points down to beat the Toronto Raptors 89-77 on Tuesday night.
“After the tech, he kind of took matters in his own hands, started being a lot more aggressive,” Allen Iverson said. “It paid dividends for us.”
But scoring wasn’t the first thing on Wallace’s mind in the second half. He was more concerned with how the game was being officiated – tipping toward the Spurs, he thought.
“I knew what it was going to be out there, and I didn’t want our team to fall into that,” Wallace said. “We knew how it was going to be, especially going against the league darlings.”
Wallace finished with 19 points and Iverson also scored 19 for Detroit (11-6), which has won two of three.
ladelphia 103, Chicago 95 in overtime; Dallas 100, L.A. Clippers 98; Denver 132, Toronto 93; and Utah 99, Sacramento 94.
In San Antonio, the Pistons trailed by 10 twice in the third quarter and pulled ahead when Wallace hit a 3-pointer almost four minutes into the fourth. Wallace hit two more 3s in the period to help Detroit outscore the Spurs 28-14.
“We should have played that hard from the gate,” Wallace said. “We wouldn’t have been in that deficit. We’re a resilient young team. Guys knuckled up in that second half.”
The Spurs lost their second straight despite the return of Manu Ginobili to the starting lineup. Ginobili scored 13 in his first start of the season after missing the first 12 games because of offseason ankle surgery. He was 4-of-11 from the floor and only 1-of-4 in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs (9-8) were led by Tim Duncan’s 23 points, but only one came in the fourth quarter. San Antonio went 5-of-15 from the floor in the fourth, and the Pistons converted the Spurs’ six turnovers into 10 points.
“The most disturbing thing is that we were very soft,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I think Detroit intimidated us. It was really sad to watch in that respect. I thought we totally folded to their aggressive play.”
Pacers 118, Lakers 117
tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to complete an improbable victory. Murphy finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds.
The Lakers (14-2) came into the game with seven straight wins. Kobe Bryant scored 28 points and had seven rebounds.
Wizards 108, Nets 88
At East Rutherford, N.J., Caron Butler had 22 points and 10 assists, and DeShawn Stevenson added 21 to lead Washington to its first road win of the season and first win over an Eastern Conference opponent after 11 straight losses.
Devin Harris led the Nets with 18 points but scored only three after halftime.
Trail Blazers 104, Knicks 97
At New York, Brandon Roy scored 23 points, and Portland dominated in the fourth quarter for its fifth straight victory.
Rudy Fernandez made a pair of 3-pointers early in the final period and scored 18 for the Trail Blazers, who shut down the Knicks’ high-powered offense for the first seven-plus minutes of the fourth and improved to 13-6, their best start after 19 games since the 1999-00 club was 15-4.
The Blazers shook off a dismal offensive night from rookie Greg Oden, who botched two dunks in the first five minutes and finished with two points, matching Kwame Brown for the lowest-scoring effort by a No. 1 overall pick in his Madison Square Garden debut in 40 years.
Chris Duhon scored a season-high 23 points and added 13 assists for the Knicks.
76ers 103, Bulls 95 OT
At Chicago, Andre Miller scored nine of his season-high 28 points in overtime to help the 76ers end a four-game slide.
Andre Iguodala added 25 points and Elton Brand had 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Sixers avenged a loss to the Bulls two days ago in Philadelphia.
Derrick Rose led Chicago with 24 points, Ben Gordon added 18 and Tyrus Thomas had 14 points and 13 boards.
Nuggets 132, Raptors 93
At Denver, Chauncey Billups had 24 points and 14 assists in Denver’s rout of Toronto.
After a slow start, Carmelo Anthony finished with 23 points 48 hours after scoring just one bucket against Houston, which snapped his NBA-best double-digit streak at 222 games.
Chris Bosh scored 24 points for the Raptors and Jermaine O’Neal added 12 in his return after missing three games because of a left ankle sprain.
Mavericks 100, Clippers 98
At Dallas, Jose Barea hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute, Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points and the Mavericks rallied from a 15-point deficit to move over .500 for the first time this season.
Barea capped Dallas’ closing 18-4 run with a long-range jumper with 50.2 seconds left that gave Dallas its only lead of the game.
Zach Randolph had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who failed to score in the last 2:55.
Jazz 99, Kings 94
two key baskets in the final minute to give Utah the win.
Paul Milsap had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who won in spite of 25 turnovers.
Kevin Martin scored 22 points as Sacramento lost its seventh straight and 10th in 11 games.
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