AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Kirk Hinrich scored 29, Luol Deng added 22 and the Ben Wallace-less Chicago Bulls beat the listless Detroit Pistons 106-88.

Wallace missed the game against his former team after going to the hospital with inflammation in his sinus, and his absence seemed to deflate a crowd fired up to jeer him again.

It also may have led to the Pistons underestimating the Bulls, whose offensive production made up for the lack Wallace’s defense.

Chicago took control of the game with a 16-4 run – with Hinrich scoring half of its points – to end the third quarter for a 84-69 lead. Until that burst, it was a tightly contested game with 15 lead changes and eight ties.

The game almost took an ugly turn with 8:12 left.

Detroit’s Richard Hamilton and Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas were ejected with two technical fouls while play was stopped with 8:12 left after exchanging heated words and being separated by teammates.

While walking off the court toward their locker rooms, both players had to be separated again.

Hamilton – and many of his teammates – had a frustrating night.

The 20-point scorer had more fouls (five) and turnovers (four) than points (three).

Chauncey Billups scored 17, Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and Chris Webber added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who had won five of six.

Detroit’s magic number is four to clinch home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs over Cleveland, which plays at Detroit on Sunday, with seven games left for both teams.

Chicago, which has clinched a spot in the playoffs, have won six of its last seven games.

AP-ES-04-04-07 2202EDT