Sonics fall to Pistons

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Jason Maxiell knows that he doesn’t have long to work his way up the Detroit Pistons’ depth chart.

Sunday night, with Rasheed Wallace sidelined by sore ankles, Maxiell made his case.

The second-year player finished a career night with the winning shot in Detroit’s 97-93 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.

“Maxie isn’t going to play 30 minutes a night when Sheed gets back,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. “But he will play. He’s earned that.”

With the score tied at 93, Maxiell took a pass from Chauncey Billups and hit a 10-foot baseline jumper with 6.8 seconds to play.

“Mr. Big Shot had the ball, so I wasn’t expecting to get it,” Maxiell said, referring to Billups. “I was about to go to the rack when he dished me the ball.”

Billups said that he didn’t think twice about putting the game in the hands of a little-used reserve.

“As great as Max played tonight, he deserved the chance,” Billups said.

“I gave him a crack at it. This is the type of game where you learn a lot about young guys, and he got some respect.”

Maxiell had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes, all career highs for a player that some of the SuperSonics couldn’t even identify.

“Max … Mac … Maxwell, whatever his name is, he outrebounded our whole team,” Rashard Lewis said. “Every time I turned around, he was coming out of nowhere. I don’t think we put a body on him all night.”

Maxiell helped the Pistons outrebound Seattle 54-32, including 26-7 on the offensive glass.

“This game was about rebounding,” Seattle coach Bob Hill said.

“They moved us right out of the way and Maxiell jumped over the top.”

The SuperSonics tied it at 91 on Mickael Gelabale’s layup with 59.2 seconds to play, but Richard Hamilton countered with a driving bank shot in traffic.

Tayshaun Prince fouled Lewis at the other end, and Lewis’ free throws tied it with 28.4 seconds left, setting the stage for Maxiell’s game-winning shot.

Seattle got one more possession, but Carlos Delfino tipped away Luke Ridnour’s pass, and Billups clinched it from the line.

“We felt like we were in a position to win this game, so this is very tough,” Lewis said. “One guy just killed us.”

Hamilton finished with 24 points, and Billups had 21. Dale Davis added 13 rebounds.

“Dale looked like he turned the clock back 10 years tonight,” Saunders said.

Lewis led the Sonics with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Wilcox added 21 points.

Detroit’s 26 offensive rebounds were the most in the NBA this season.

Pistons 97, Sonics 93

Percentages: FG .500, FT .842.

3-Point Goals: 3-9, .333 (Ras.Lewis 3-6, Gelabale 0-1, Watson 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 14 (20 PTS).

Blocked Shots: 5 (Collison, Petro, Wilcox, Wilkins, Gelabale).

Turnovers: 14 (Ridnour 3, Wilkins 3, Watson 2, Wilcox 2, Collison, Ras.Lewis, Gelabale, Glyniadakis).

Steals: 6 (Wilcox 2, Wilkins 2, Petro, Ridnour).

Technical Fouls: Collison, 3:06 third.

Percentages: FG .394, FT .750.

3-Point Goals: 5-11, .455 (Billups 3-5, Murray 1-1, Prince 1-3, Blalock 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 12 (13 PTS).

Blocked Shots: 4 (Billups, Davis, Hamilton, McDyess).

Turnovers: 12 (Billups 3, Hamilton 2, Maxiell 2, Delfino, McDyess, Prince, Blalock, Mohammed).

Steals: 6 (Billups 2, Maxiell 2, Mohammed 2).

Technical Fouls: Defensive Three Second, 11:48 second.

A—22,076 (22,076). T—2:14.