AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 14 (UPI) -- Ben Wallace collected a season-best 17 points and a season high 24 rebounds Friday night as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Washington Wizards, 90-80, to improve to 4-0 on their five-game homestand.
Chauncey Billups added 25 points and Richard Hamilton 19 for Detroit (41-23), which opened a 1 1/2-game lead over New Jersey for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Pistons had lost a season-high seven straight contests -- the last five on the road -- before their current four-game winning streak.
Detroit took the lead for good at 7-5 on a jumper by Michael Curry four minutes into the game, led by eight points after one quarter and 46-35 at the break. Billups, who had been averaging 27.8 points over his previous five games, scored 15 points in the third quarter as the Pistons opened up a 73-56 advantage.
After the Pistons scored the opening basket of the final period, the Wizards embarked on an 11-0 run, climbing within 75-67 on a dunk by Jahidi White with 8:03 left.
But Billups stopped the burst with a jumper and Hamilton added a three-pointer and a layup to make it 82-68 with 4:54 to go. Washington got no closer than eight points thereafter.
Wallace scored Detroit's final points on a three-pointer with 11 seconds left. It was just his second career shot from beyond the arc and first of the season.
Former Piston Jerry Stackhouse scored 24 points to pace Washington, which lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Michael Jordan added 15 points but just eight after the first quarter. The Wizards are a game behind Milwaukee for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
