"I think this is going to galvanize us," Madsen said, downplaying any disharmony regarding coach Dwane Casey and Ricky Davis.

Davis, who had five points in 23 minutes, looked peeved when he was replaced by Foye during a third-quarter timeout. Davis left for the locker room, and assistant coach Rex Kalamian came after him. Casey and James both claimed Davis had to visit the bathroom. He was back on the bench later in the period, but James and teammate Justin Reed were each seen giving him pep talks.

"I didn't like his focus," Casey said, adding that he didn't think about putting Davis -- the team's second-leading scorer -- back in again.

Coach Flip Saunders, coaching just his second game at Target Center with the visiting team after nearly 10 seasons running the Timberwolves, put new arrival Chris Webber into the starting lineup so he could get more work with Billups.

After missing eight games because of a calf injury, Billups has scored 51 points over his last two outings. The Pistons didn't start out well, though they were tied at 39 at the half. They shot 1-for-10 from 3-point range over the first two quarters.

"I can't wait until we really become a cohesive unit," Billups said. "Tonight we were pretty fired up, especially late. I can't wait to get back to running all of the plays for this offense."

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