Sixers guard Andre Miller had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He was the first Detroit opponent since Dwyane Wade in 2004 to have a triple-double against the Pistons. Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala also played well with a game-high 31 points.

With the loss, the Pistons (36-40) have now lost three in a row and are four games below .500 for the first time this season. Meanwhile, Philadelphia (40-35) clinched a playoff berth with the victory.

More importantly, Chicago's victory over the Nets dropped the Pistons into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons hold a two-game lead over Charlotte, which in ninth in the playoff race in the East. The Bobcats visits Detroit in an important game tonight -- a win and Charlotte would be only one game back in the playoff race.

Rodney Stuckey, who led the Pistons with 23 points, hit two free throws to give Detroit an 88-87 lead with 2:17 to play. But Miller and Reggie Evans hit five consecutive free throwsfor a 92-88 advantage. After the game, Detroit head coach Michael Curry and a number of Pistons players talked about the importance of winning Saturday.

"This was a game we wanted to get and needed to get," said Pistons guard Richard Hamilton. "To be up 10, 12 points and give up the lead and not be able to close the show, it's tough for us."

Added Curry: "We knew it would be tough. We came with good focus and good effort. We just made some mistakes."

Among those to struggle was guard Will Bynum, who had eight points but made a handful of poor decisions in the fourth quarter.

"Will overpenetrated a few times in the beginning of the fourth, had a couple of bad shot attempts," Curry said. "But he'll learn. He's been doing a good job in that area for us."

Bynum's play wasn't the only disappointing performance that played a role in Detroit losing the regular season series to the Sixers for the first time since the 2000-2001 season.

The late season shooting slump Antonio McDyess feared he might experience, appears to be coming to fruition as he missed seven of his nine shot attempts -- most of which were open or lightly contested shots.

Rasheed Wallace came off the bench and did a solid job defensively, but he missed nine of his 12 shots from the field which included missing 5-of-6 shots in the fourth.

And Detroit's struggles came on a night when the player that many at the Wachovia Center came to see -- Iverson -- was not in the building.

The Pistons released a statement on Friday saying that Iverson, who spent 10-plus seasons starring for the S ixers, would spend the rest of the regular season and playoffs resting his sore back which had kept him out of 16 games prior to the announcement.

His absence wasn't an issue for Detroit early on, especially with the Pistons getting an unexpected lift offensively from Kwame Brown who scored eight first-quarter points that helped the Pistons stay within striking distance. He finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Trailing 21-19, the Pistons opened the second quarter with a 17-3 run to lead 36-24.

Philadelphia came back with a 10-3 run sparked by the play of Louis Williams who scored eight of his 15 points off the Sixers bench during the spurt.

Philadelphia cut Detroit's lead down to 47-44 following a pair of free throws by Miller with less than a minute to play in the half. The Sixers would not get a ny closer, as the Pistons took a 50-46 lead into the half.

The Sixers opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run that put them back on top, 52-50.

The game remained relatively close until Detroit closed out the third quarter with a 10-2 run to lead, 74-68.