Motor City ballers losing tread

The Pistons were one-time owners of a comfortable lead over Cleveland in the East and the Central Division, but currently are just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cavaliers in both categories.

Detroit’s big reason for the slip has been losses in three of the last four games, including the first two contests of a three-game road trip. The Pistons had won five straight before their sudden collapse and will wrap up the trek on Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Bucks, a team Flip Saunders’ squad should annihilate.

Detroit is the only team in the Eastern Conference with a winning road mark. The Cavs are surprisingly 15-18 away from home in 2006-07. Detroit’s 23-12 mark as the visitor this season is the fourth best in the NBA behind Western Conference powerhouses Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio.

Saunders, though, will not have Rasheed Wallace for Sunday’s road game after the forward received his 18th technical foul of the season for complaining to officials in Friday’s loss to San Antonio. Wallace will serve his second one-game suspension this month. Under NBA rules, every other technical foul a player is slapped with after 16 results in a one-game suspension.

The Pistons will have guard Lindsey Hunter back in the lineup after he was suspended 10 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Hunter allegedly took his wife’s diet pills by mistake while battling through a cold.

Saunders already has stud point guard Chauncey Billups back in the mix after he missed two games with a strained groin. Billups has posted 13 points in each of the two games, both losses, he has played in since the injury.

The addition of forward Chris Webber was a hot topic for Detroit, which is 22-10 since signing the Motor City native as a free agent in January. The Pistons are 22-9 with Webber in the starting lineup.