In 2nd game back Jackson, Pacers fall to Detroit by 12

INDIANAPOLIS -- Chauncey Billups scored 20 points and Tayshaun Prince had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Detroit Pistons used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Indiana Pacers 88-76 Thursday night.\nIt was the second meeting between the teams since Nov. 19, when Pacers players brawled with Pistons fans after Ben Wallace shoved Ron Artest. Both games have been in Indianapolis, and both times the Pistons have won.\nThe teams face each for the last time in the regular season March 25 at Detroit. That will be Indiana's first trip back to the Palace of Auburn Hills since the fight.\nDetroit won its second straight after losing four in a row, while Indiana has lost three straight and five of seven. The Pacers dropped under .500 for only the second time this season.\nThursday's game was full of emotion, too.\nIndiana fans booed loudly as the Pistons were introduced and booed again each time Ben Wallace scored. The game also was marred by five technical fouls, and fans jawed with Pistons players, sometimes playfully, in the final minutes of the game.\nBen Wallace finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.\nThe game got off to a contentious start. Two days after five Pacers players appeared in a Detroit courtroom, Reggie Miller, Rasheed Wallace and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle all drew technical fouls in the first half, and Jermaine O'Neal picked up another technical early in the third quarter.\nThe Pacers' scoring burden was carried by O'Neal and Stephen Jackson, who were both involved in the November melee. O'Neal finished with 27 points and nine rebounds while Jackson scored 11 points, five rebounds and three assists in his second game back after a 30-game suspension for his role in the brawl.\nFred Jones added 14 points off the bench, and point guard Jamaal Tinsley was particularly ineffective after missing Wednesday night's game in Boston with the flu. Tinsley missed all six of his shots, finishing with two points and four assists after being in foul trouble most of the night.\nThe Pistons used a runs of 13-2 and 6-0 to build a 39-25 lead.\nThe Pacers rallied just before halftime, scoring the last five points to close to 47-40. But Detroit opened the second half by scoring five straight points and pulled away with a 7-0 spurt that made it 66-51 with 2:18 left in the third quarter.\nThe Pacers got within 72-64 early in the fourth quarter when O'Neal made two free throws, but Rasheed Wallace and Billups connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 78-64, and Detroit coasted to the victory.