Wallace Prevails in Homecoming

Rasheed Wallace was treated more warmly than another former teammate in his return to Portland, Ore., on Thursday night.

The volatile Wallace made his first trip to the Rose Garden since the Trail Blazers traded him and had 13 points and nine rebounds to help the Detroit Pistons to an 83-68 victory.

Wallace heard a mixture of boos and cheers when he was introduced, but it was nothing compared with the jeers showered on the Trail Blazers when they trailed, 46-29, at halftime. As he did often when he played in Portland, Wallace left without comment.

Portland, which trailed by as many as 25 points, have lost four in a row after a five-game winning streak. Wallace’s return came one night after another former Trail Blazer, Bonzi Wells, was roundly booed.

Chauncey Billups had 16 points for the Pistons, who played without leading scorer Richard Hamilton (broken nose) but won for the fifth time in six games anyway. Zach Randolph had 11 points for Portland. Piston Coach Larry Brown stayed in the locker room after halftime because of a sore back.

Wallace was traded to the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 9, but played only one game for them before being traded again to Detroit.

Sacramento 114, Philadelphia 105 -- Peja Stojakovic scored 22 of his 27 points in the first half, and Chris Webber had 24 points and 10 assists at Philadelphia to help the Kings beat the 76ers for the seventh consecutive time.

Returning from knee surgery, Webber was playing his second game for Sacramento, which has won three in a row and nine of its last 10 on the road. He had 26 points and 12 rebounds Tuesday against the Clippers.

Allen Iverson rebounded from Wednesday’s two-for-21 shooting effort to score a team-high 32 for the 76ers, who have lost six of seven.

With Webber on the bench late in the third quarter, the 76ers staged a 13-0 run in which they even led by two at one point. The Kings, however, essentially put the game away with a 14-3 run to open the fourth quarter in which Webber had seven points and three assists.

Philadelphia forward Glenn Robinson was booed when he left the game for good late in the first half after aggravating an elbow injury.

Miami 104, Milwaukee 98 -- Rafer Alston tied his season high with 23 points at Miami to help the Heat end a four-game losing streak despite squandering a 16-point first-half lead.

Keith Van Horn scored 22 points for Milwaukee, which had a four-game winning streak ended after overcoming the first-half deficit to tie the game at 98 with 1:09 to play.

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A hearing was scheduled for Monday to determine whether the NBA can prevent forward Vin Baker from signing with another team until his grievance against the Boston Celtics is decided, the league said. No hearing date was set on whether the Celtics had the right to void Baker’s contract with $35 million left on it for violating his alcohol treatment program.