Philadelphia - Rodney Stuckey matched a season-high with 29 points as lowly Detroit upended the slumping Sixers, 104-100, in the final game of the regular season at Wells Fargo Center.
Seventh-seeded Philadelphia, which lost five of six to finish 41-41 on the season, begins the playoffs in Miami on Saturday afternoon against LeBron James and the second-seeded Heat.
Jason Kapono, who has barely played this season, missed a wide-open three from the right corner that would have deadlocked things in the waning seconds.
The Sixers have hit the skids since losing Lou Williams to a strained hamstring on April 2 in Milwaukee. Andre Iguodala was also sidelined again to rest his ailing right knee. Both are expected to go in the postseason.
"Those injuries put a damper on what we did this year," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.
Jrue Holiday scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter for the Sixers. The second-year point guard also had seven assists in the game.
Evan Turner had 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists but made key mistakes at both ends in the final two minutes. Andres Nocioni also had 18 points for Philadelphia.
"All young players continue to learn lessons," Collins said of Turner. "I think he learned a valuable lesson to always be ready."
Rookie Greg Monroe added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Pistons, who ended their tumultuous season at 30-52. Tayshaun Prince had 14 points and Ben Gordon, DaJuan Summers and Jason Maxiell all had 10 off the bench.
"I know we've won four of the last five and guys played hard," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "I'm proud of them. It's pretty neat when you can say you won your last game and all. That's important. I just wish we were in the playoffs."
SIX SHOTS:
*The Sixers failed in their attempt to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2004-05. The team did by improve by 14 wins over last season, however.
*Attendance was just 13,760 on fan appreciation night.
*Detroit had just four personal fouls in the first half, a floor record for the least amount of fouls in any half.
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