AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 12 (Ticker) -- The Detroit Pistons delivered a painful message to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Rasheed Wallace scored 16 points as the Pistons matched a franchise record for wins in a season with a 96-73 thrashing of the Cavaliers, who lost James to a left ankle sprain.
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Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince added 14 points apiece for the Pistons (63-15), who also won 63 games in 1988-89 en route to winning the first of back-to-back NBA titles.
In what could have been a possible preview of a matchup in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Pistons made it quite clear to the Cavaliers why they are the NBA's best team.
The Cavaliers suffered more than embarrassment on the scoreboard when James - third in the league in scoring at 31.7 points - tweaked his ankle on a drive to the basket late in the third quarter. The 21-year-old phenom limped to the locker room.
Wallace suffered some pain of his own at the 6:34 mark of the second quarter when he was the recipient of a flagrant foul by Anderson Varejao, who was ejected.
After Varejao's hard foul, the Pistons used a 19-6 run to close the first half and open a commanding 56-29 lead at the break.
In the second quarter, Cleveland made just 4-of-17 shots and committed six of its 15 turnovers.
Maurice Evans scored 13 points and Tony Delk 12 for Detroit, which improved to 36-3 at home and is on the verge of clinching the league's best record.
Detroit won three of four games from Cleveland this season.
James scored 22 points to the Cavaliers (47-31), who lost for just the second time in 13 games. Cleveland already has clinched the fourth seed.