ATLANTA – Bob Sura had 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds Thursday night, and the Atlanta Hawks took advantage of the absence of Baron Davis to defeat the New Orleans Hornets 84-76.

Davis, who leads the team with an average of 23.0 points, had a sprained left ankle. His status for Friday’s home game against Phoenix was uncertain.

Chris Crawford and Jason Collier each scored 16 points for the Hawks, who limited New Orleans to 30 second-half points.

Without Davis, the Hornets turned to David Wesley, who scored 32 points the last time the teams met. Using his quick first step to create open shots, Wesley scored 10 of the Hornets’ first 16 points and had 14 points in the first half. But he did not score again until 5:41 remained in the fourth period and finished with 16 points.

After coming back from a 12-point deficit, the Hawks took their first lead, 47-46, on Jason Terry’s 3-pointer as part of a 10-0 run to open the second half. Terry finished with 14 points, 11 in the second half.

Spurs 84, Pistons 75

SAN ANTONIO – Manu Ginobili scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, and the San Antonio Spurs pulled away following the late ejection of Ben Wallace to defeat the Detroit Pistons 84-75.

Detroit trailed 71-64 when Wallace was called for a loose ball foul with 6:07 remaining. Referee Steve Javie ejected Wallace for heatedly complaining.

Malik Rose hit the technical free throw and Hedo Turkoglu followed with a 3-pointer as part of a 6-0 run that put the Spurs ahead by 13. A basket by Tony Parker with 3:55 remaining completed an 18-4 run and gave San Antonio an 82-66 lead.

Parker added 16 points for San Antonio, 10 of them in the second half. Tim Duncan had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Rasheed Wallace paced the Pistons with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Richard Hamilton scored 15 and Corliss Williamson 10. Ben Wallace had two points and eight rebounds.

Detroit missed its first four shots and fell behind 8-0 before Rasheed Wallace made a turnaround baseline jumper. The Pistons then got hot, going 8-for-12 over the rest of the period and opening the second quarter by making six of their first seven attempts. Over the same stretch, San Antonio went 7-for-19 to trail 31-26.

The Pistons built their advantage to 40-31 late in the second quarter, but the Spurs were able to get it down to 42-38 at the break as Ginobili made all three free throws after Mike James fouled him on a midcourt heave with 1.3 seconds left.

Duncan, who missed nine games with a left knee injury, gave the crowd a scare when he clutched that knee after being knocked down while going for a rebound in the final minute of the half. He left the game, but returned to start the third quarter.

Notes: Parker is averaging 17.4 points and 7.4 assists in his past five games. … The Spurs have beaten the Pistons seven straight times in San Antonio dating back to April 1997, before Duncan’s arrival. … San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has a 10-4 record against Detroit’s Larry Brown, his one-time mentor and boss on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team coaching staff.

AP-ES-03-25-04 2325EST