Plan to give Wallace a lighter load Tuesday doesn't pan out
By A. Sherrod Blakely

Truth be told, Detroit Pistons coach Flip Saunders was hoping to play Ben Wallace for about 35 minutes Tuesday night against Portland.
Or maybe he was going to play him for the first 35 minutes, non-stop.

No, that wasn't the plan, not after the Pistons needed Wallace for 56 minutes in Monday's double-overtime Memphis marathon. The plan was for someone else to take some of those minutes Tuesday.

But when Antonio McDyess got in quick foul trouble, and when Tuesday's game became a struggle that ended as a 93-89 Pistons win, Wallace ended up playing a little more than planned. He played 30 of the first 31 minutes and a game-high 40 minutes overall, and the Pistons needed him for every one of those minutes.