=== Detroit Pistons Team Report - February 21 ===

(My Sportsbook) - The Detroit Pistons lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 88-87, on Friday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Richard Hamilton netted 24 points and handed out six helpers for the Pistons, who took the court with newly acquired Rasheed Wallace and Mike James. But due to a bureaucratic mix up, the duo sat out the second half.

Detroit coach Larry Brown was notified at the intermission that all the paper work was not complete between the three teams involved in the trade that brought Wallace and James to the Pistons.

On Thursday, which was the NBA trade deadline, the Atlanta Hawks traded Wallace to the Pistons as part of a three-team deal that also included the Boston Celtics.

Detroit got James from the Celtics, and Atlanta acquired forward Chris Mills from Boston and center Zeljko Rebraca and guard Bob Sura from Detroit. The Hawks obtained the rights to Milwaukee's 2004 first-round draft choice, which Detroit previously acquired from Denver.

The Celtics got guards Chucky Atkins and Lindsey Hunter, both of whom were with the Pistons, Detroit's 2004 first-round selection and cash considerations.

Chauncey Billups finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists en route to the first triple-double for Detroit since Ben Wallace's in November 2002.

The Pistons trailed by as many as 12, but Hamilton cut the deficit to 86-85 on a layup with just 15.3 seconds to play. Detroit was then forced to foul and Sam Cassell made two from the stripe to extend the Minnesota margin back to three.

Tayshaun Prince fired up a three-pointer that was short, but Ben Wallace collected the rebound and scored the field goal from close range for the final points of the game with 1.3 seconds remaining.

Latrell Sprewell was then fouled right away, but missed both foul shots to still give the Pistons a shot to win. But the Pistons threw a pass over half- court and never got a shot off.

The Pistons are off until Sunday when they host the Orlando Magic.