For a change, however, the same could not be said about Detroit's play down the stretch.

The Pistons, fueled by stingy defense in the fourth quarter and big buckets from Allen Iverson, pulled out an 87-79 win against the Grizzlies.

Detroit (23-17) snapped a five-game losing streak, the team's longest in five years.

"It's always tough to win that first one after you've lost so many in a row," said Detroit's Antonio McDyess, who led all players with 16 rebounds.

Iverson, who led all scorers with 27 points, added: "That was like getting a gorilla off our back. This one was hard."

Memphis (11-29), which has the fourth-worst record in the NBA, stayed within striking distance most of the game. Although the Pistons led for the most part, a poor stretch to end the third quarter was just what the Grizzlies needed to take a 69-67 lead heading into the fourth.

O.J. Mayo continues to prove he is among the league's best rookies. He had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Fellow rookie Marc Gasol was tough inside for Memphis most of the game, finishing with 12 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

But Memphis, which started three rookies, does not have the kind of veteran savvy or experience that the Pistons do.

That was evident in the fourth quarter when the game was anyone's for the taking. Detroit's defense clamped down, and Grizzlies shooters could not come through, scoring only 10 points on 4-for-20 shooting from the field.

"Unfortunately down the stretch, they got some better looks than we did," Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. "We just couldn't put the ball in the hole. We missed a couple layups and wide-open shots here and there. Give them credit. They came up with big shots at the end."

Especially Rasheed Wallace, one of the few Pistons shooting the ball well from the free-throw line. Wallace made all four of his free-throw attempts, including a pair with 40.4 seconds to play to put the game away. The rest of the Pistons shot a combined 10-for-18 from the line.

But when the game was up for grabs, Detroit got a big lift from its defense, which forced three Memphis turnovers that led to six points for the Pistons.

"That's what we needed to do," said McDyess, who also had eight points. "We played as a team, which we haven't been doing for a while. It seemed everyone was in synch tonight, and that was the difference in the game."

Iverson set the tone with a 12 first-quarter points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. In the second quarter, it was Richard Hamilton doing most of the damage.

The Pistons' big men did a good job of setting screens for Hamilton, providing the 6-foot-7 guard the room to knock down a series of jumpers. Hamilton scored 12 of his 14 points in the second quarter despite being bothered by a groin injury that kept him out for eight games earlier this season.

"I just try to make plays, not just by scoring, but getting to the basket," said Hamilton, who had a game-high six assists. "And try to make plays for my teammates, too."

The Pistons were more than aware of their losing skid coming into Monday's game. But Curry was pleased that for a change, it did not appear to affect their play.

"We played and helped each other both offensively and defensively," Curry said. "We began to play with some passion instead of worrying about the outcome of the game, just go out there and letting everything else just take care of itself."

Even with the losses mounting, Curry believed better days were coming.

"In one week's time, losing five games, you can't become that good and then become that bad in a week," Curry said. "There were a lot of things in those games that were self-inflicted. I thought we continued to get better."