AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons could not stop Philadelphia's Charles Barkley Friday night. So the officials did.
The 76ers lost their offensive and defensive catalyst in Barkley, ejected in the fourth quarter for elbowing Dennis Rodman's face, and Philadelphia dropped a 96-94 decision to the Pistons.
'He (Barkley) is their go-to guy down the stretch, so that had to be to our advantage,' said center Bill Laimbeer who made one of two free throws with 22 seconds left to give Detroit its 10th straight victory.
Philadelphia lost for only the third time in its last 11 games. Barkley led the 76ers with 22 points and frustrated the Pistons' front- line players for the first three quarters.
The 76ers still had an opportunity to win the game, but Hersey Hawkins' 17-foot shot with two seconds left went off the right side of the rim.
'It seemed like the air was sort of let out when Charles was tossed out,' said Hawkins, who had 20 points. 'But we still had a chance to win the game. It was just a case of us missing the shots.
'I liked the (potential game-winning) shot. It was makeable. But it was like the rest of the fourth quarter, the shot didn't fall.'
Joe Dumars helped the Pistons, 13-2, by scoring 12 of his 24 points in the fourth. James Edwards also added 18 points for Detroit, which has not lost since Nov. 9 against Portland.
The Pistons, who rallied from an 18-point deficit, have allowed only one team in that stretch to score 100 points or more.
'Obviously we were very fortunate to get a win out of this game,' Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said. 'We were very erratic on offense and we didn't have an answer for Barkley. His ejection helped us out.'
The teams traded baskets at the beginning of the fourth before Detroit tied the score 77-77 on a goaltending call against Hawkins with 7:48 to go.
On the 76ers ensuing possession, Barkley was ejected with 7:32 left when he elbowed Rodman, who followed with two free throws.
'He did a good job of creating the call,' Barkley said. 'Go look at the tape and get a laugh.'
Philadelphia and Detroit traded the lead 10 times before Laimbeer made the free throw. Following Hawkins' miss with two seconds remaining, Detroit's Vinnie Johnson added a free throw with one second to play.
'Rodman is Mr. Hollywood,' Philadelphia guard Rickey Green said. 'Barkley should not have been thrown out of the game. If Charles had been in the game, it would have been a different story.'
After the 76ers hit the first three points of the third quarter to take a 59-41 advantage, the Pistons used a 12-4 spurt to draw within 63- 53 with 5:37 to play.
Two baskets by Hawkins and Green helped Philadelphia build its lead to 71-56 with 3:12 left. But Laimbeer sparked Detroit on a 9-0 surge to close the quarter and pull the Pistons within 71-65.
Detroit led briefly 4-2 in the first quarter, but Philadelphia went in front 13-6 using an 11-2 spurt. The Pistons climbed within 15-11, but the 76ers exploded with an 11-0 run that put them up 26-11. Barkley powered the surge with seven of his 10 first-quarter points.
Mark Aguirre broke Detroit's scoreless stretch with 1:02 left on a layup. The Pistons hit only 6 of 22 shots for 27.3 percent, compared with the 76ers who made 13 of 23 attempts for 56.5 percent.
The 76ers took a 31-13 lead when Green hit a 17-foot jumper at the start of the second quarter. The Pistons cut the deficit to 45-36 on Isiah Thomas' scoop shot and free throw with 3:10 remaining. However, Barkley and Hawkins each scored four points down the stretch to propel Philadelphia to a 56-41 halftime bulge.