AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Of all the teams to end the San Antonio Spurs' 11-game winning streak.
The Pistons proved up to the task Friday night with a 119-109 victory at the Palace.
The Spurs can be excused because two key players weren't in the lineup.
With an NBA-best record of 39-12, San Antonio was without Tim Duncan (sore left knee) and Manu Ginobili (left hamstring).
Meanwhile, the Pistons learned Friday that rookie center Andre Drummond would be out for the next four to six weeks with a fracture in his fifth lumbar vertebra.
"Injuries are part of the game," said coach Lawrence Frank after his team shot 51.7 percent from the field and had three players scored in the 20s. "We feel bad for Andre, but he'll be all right, and other guys have to step up.
"I thought at the beginning of the game we had a great rhythm and flow. We had quality shots and great ball movement."
The Spurs had been without Duncan and Ginobili for most of their streak, but the Pistons were hot from the field and never took the foot off the pedal.
Greg Monroe, free from Duncan, had 26 points and 16 rebounds. Brandon Knight scored 24 points, and Charlie Villanueva had one of his best games as a Piston with a season-high 21 points, eight rebounds and five three-pointers.
"We got some stops early, which allowed us to get out in transition," said Monroe, who frequently attacked the basket. "We got a lot of easy baskets on the break. One of the things Coach said we needed to do was control the pace, and I thought we did a good job of doing that."
Detroit led, 65-52, at halftime, 95-78, at the end of three, but San Antonio made one final push with 7:17 left on a three-pointer by Danny Green to make it 101-93. However, Villanueva nailed a three, and Will Bynum scored on a fast-break lay-up to make it 106-93.
"I thought we buckled down defensively, and offense was the result of that," said Knight, who had five rebounds. "We tried to get out and get some buckets in transition, and we were able to knock down some shots tonight."
The Pistons were unselfish with 26 assists on 46 baskets, with Jose Calderon leading the way with eight.
"Throughout the game, I just thought we had really good offensive rhythm," said Frank. "The only thing that hurt us obviously was some of those turnovers. What was hard for us to get a handle on was we had some letdowns defensively in the first half and, when (Tony) Parker decided to take the game over, he was just living at the free-throw line."
Parker finished with 31 points.
The Pistons led, 31-23, after one quarter and extended the advantage to 47-34 on the strength of a 16-11 run and triple by Villanueva, who should get more minutes with Drummond out.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich kept his cool as the Pistons scored nine of the next 13 points to expand their advantage to 56-38 on another three-pointer by Villanueva.
The Pistons surged to 65-44 on a jump shot by Kyle Singler and led by 13 at halftime after the Spurs scored the final eight points of the second quarter.
