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The loss drops Toronto (40-40) into a tie with Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference's sixth seed with two games left, although the Raptors have the tiebreaker. The sixth seed will play Orlando in the first round, while the seventh seed faces Detroit.
The score was tied at 65 early in the fourth, and the Pistons had all five starters on the bench, having already clinched the second seed.
But Maxiell and Stuckey helped Detroit's young second unit outplay the Toronto regulars. For most of the quarter, the Pistons were using five players
-- their "Zoo Squad" -- who average just 22.8 years of age.
Stuckey led the Pistons with 18 points, while Maxiell and Chauncey Billups added 14 each.
Chris Bosh had 30 for Toronto, but Rasho Nesterovic (18) and T.J. Ford (10) were the only other players to reach double figures.
Detroit has been limiting the workload for its starters in the last weeks of the regular season, and Sunday was no exception. The Pistons built a nine-point lead early in the second quarter, then turned things over to the reserves.
They used all 12 players before halftime, but still took a 50-45 advantage into the break. The Pistons outrebounded Toronto 23-13 in the half, including a 7-2 edge on the offensive glass.
Notes: None of the Detroit starters played more than 25 minutes, and none were on the floor in the final 11 minutes. All 12 Pistons played at least 10 minutes. ... The Pistons finished with 26 assists and only 11 turnovers, while the Raptors barely broke even, getting 14 assists against 13 turnovers.
[Associated Press; By ANDREW SELIGMAN]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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