After consciously deferring to newcomers Flip Murray and Nazr Mohammed through the first seven preseason games, All-Stars Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton put it in regular-season mode against Memphis on Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

It might not have been as sublime as the middle of the regular season, but it wasn’t bad for the first real test run – and it was a lot better than that if you consider the first quarter of the Pistons’ 92-82 loss to Memphis that saw Detroit finish the preseason with a 5-3 record.

The Pistons shot 56.5 percent and had 11 assists on their 13 baskets with just one turnover. Billups, Hamilton and Wallace had combined to average only 17 shot attempts per game through the first seven preseason games. After one quarter Wednesday night, they had combined for 13 attempts – a much closer approximation of how the regular season figures to play out – and the Pistons held a 30-22 lead.

“We wanted to come out, our starters, at least that first quarter, and do what we do,” said Billups after scoring 13 points and dishing out five assists in 25 efficient minutes. Hamilton scored 15 with four assists in 28 minutes and Wallace, who only played 18 minutes after getting tagged with his third and fourth fouls early in the third quarter, had seven points.

If there was any cause for alarm, it was in the starting frontcourt’s rebounding totals – two, in a combined 59 minutes.

“It’s something we have to be conscious of, but it’s going to have to be a collective unit,” said Tayshaun Prince, who’d played not only the most minutes but also closest to his usual role among the four holdover starters heading into the preseason finale, when he played just 15 minutes and scored five points.

“Four years, you had Ben back there, and all of a sudden, now you’re hesitant to go get it. We have to get more conscious of going to get the basketball. That’s something that’s going to have to be done in practice and carry over to the games.”

The Pistons played a lethargic second quarter with a unit that included many of the core bench players who’d logged heavy minutes 24 hours earlier when Flip Saunders sat Billups, Hamilton and Wallace in a win over Washington.

“No question, playing three games in four days, which we just ended up doing, you get some guys worn down, you lose practice time,” Saunders said. “The first quarter, our main group played pretty well. After that, it was pretty nondescript. Our offensive execution at times was good tonight, especially early, and the young kids did a pretty nice job in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter.”

The young kids would be Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Will Blalock, who sparked a rally that saw a 14-point deficit cut to six.

Maxiell – the revelation of training camp – was on the way to his quietest game of the preseason before a 10-point fourth quarter allowed him to finish with 14 points and six rebounds.

Maxiell did have a few very loud moments before that, however, including an emphatic dunk over Hakim Warrick in the second quarter. On consecutive Memphis possessions in the fourth quarter, Maxiell took charging fouls from Tarence Kinsey and Hakim Warrick.

It’s now a virtual certainty that Maxiell has played his way into the rotation, and if it weren’t for the numbers game, Johnson would have, too. The highlight-reel plays continue for Johnson – a spectacular block, a lob dunk from Blalock in transition – but, less noticeably if more critically, so do the elimination of youthful mistakes.

“He does make the most,” Saunders said of the 19-year-old, who had six points and four blocked shots in just 7:31 of playing time. “Right spot, right time. He’s showing he does have a bright future, there’s no question.”

If there was any Piston who endangered his spot in a crowded rotation in the finale, it was Carlos Delfino, who went 0-for-5 in 28 minutes after playing 46 minutes the night before. The Pistons committed to Delfino over the summer and Saunders is giving him the benefit of the doubt so far.

“He hasn’t been as consistent as I think he’s going to be,” Saunders said. “The last couple of games, we didn’t play him as much with the first unit, where he’s better. He’s going to have opportunities; he’s going to have to take advantage of it, starting next week.”

Memphis, which went on a 15-2 run that began midway through the third quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a 10-point lead against Saunders’ beleaguered bench, was led by lottery-choice rookie Rudy Gay, who scored 16 points.