Duncan Sidelined as Pistons Roll On

Despite losing Tim Duncan moments after tipoff, San Antonio put together a gritty performance.

But Chauncey Billups scored 25 points, including five straight to blunt a late Spurs’ rally, and the Detroit Pistons won their 12th straight at home, 110-101, Sunday in what some consider an NBA Finals preview.

“You want to establish home dominance and we’ve done that,” said Billups of the Pistons’ longest home streak since the 1990-91 season.

Meanwhile, the Spurs are hoping Duncan’s ankle injury is not as bad as it looked. His right ankle turned sharply after he scored and landed on Rasheed Wallace’s foot under the basket in the opening minutes. Duncan missed two games earlier this month because of a sprained right ankle. The Spurs said X-rays were negative.

“It’s the same ankle that he sprained a couple weeks ago, but this was much worse,” Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s going to be a while.”

Duncan’s teammates did their best to make up for the huge void.

Six Spurs scored in double figures: Devin Brown (18), Beno Udrih (15), Manu Ginobili (14), Rasho Nesterovic (13), Nazr Mohammed (13) and Tony Parker (12). Ginobili played 16 minutes after missing five games because of a strained right groin.

Robert Horry’s three-point basket with 3 1/2 minutes left pulled San Antonio within two, then Billups ended its comeback hopes.

Billups made a three-point play and a shot under the basket to give the Pistons a 104-97 lead with just under a minute left. Detroit scored 11 of the final 15 points.

Phoenix 97, Memphis 91 -- Joe Johnson scored 28 points, including a three-pointer with half a minute to play, to lead the Suns at Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis’ leading scorer, Pau Gasol played 12 minutes after missing 23 games because of a foot injury and had four points and one rebound. Shane Battier led the Grizzlies with 20 points.

Minnesota 94, Houston 86 -- Kevin Garnett had 30 points, 17 rebounds and six assists to lead the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

The Rockets trailed by as many as 23 points to lose for the second time in a row following a six-game winning streak. Yao Ming led Houston with 21 points but Tracy McGrady had only 15 on four-for-22 shooting.

Denver 114, Milwaukee 103 -- Andre Miller had 22 points and eight assists at Denver and the Nuggets shot better than 50% for the third straight game in winning for the 11th time in their last 12 games.

Denver, which made 41 of 73 shots (56%), stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the final Western Conference playoff berth. Desmond Mason had 24 points for Milwaukee.

Golden State 104, Sacramento 94 -- Troy Murphy had 29 points and 14 rebounds to help the Warriors take the season series, 3-1, from the Kings while winning their second straight at Arco Arena following an 11-game losing streak there.

And the Warriors did it without leading scorer Jason Richardson, who traveled to Michigan for personal reasons.

Mike Bibby scored 24 points for the Kings but was ejected in the final minute.

New Jersey 94, Indiana 85 -- Vince Carter scored 39 points, including 14 in a third quarter in which the Nets led by 17, to help his team to a season-best four-game winning streak with a victory at Indianapolis.

Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 21 points.