LAST NIGHT IN THE NBA
CELTICS at PISTONS:
Chauncey Billups scored 17 of his 25 points in the third quarter to help Detroit improve to 7- 0 with a 115100 victory over Boston. The Pistons overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to record the third- best start in team history. Detroit also got 25 points from Richard Hamilton and 20 points and 14 rebounds from Rasheed Wallace. Ricky Davis led the Celtics with 31 points and Paul Pierce added 23.
Boston used runs of nine and 12 points in the first half to take a 58- 48 lead at halftime. Davis finished with 22 points in the first two quarters on 10- of- 13 shooting, while the Celtics shot 67 per cent (26-for-39) as a team. The Celtics led 65- 52 early in the third, but Billups had 10 points in a 14- 4 run that pulled Detroit to 73- 72 late in the period. Pierce scored the next five points, but Billups answered with five of his own.
Detroit then scored the first seven points of the fourth to take an 84- 81 edge. The last two points came after Dan Dickau was called for a flagrant foul after hitting Hamilton in the face and knocking off his mask. WIZARDS at CAVS:
LeBron James scored a season- high 37 points as Cleveland roughed up Washington 114- 99. James scored just two points in the first quarter but followed with 14 in the second, 14 in the third and seven in the fourth before leaving with 2: 32 left. The Cavaliers won their fifth straight, and are 4- 0 at home. Larry Hughes — who ended up with 22 — was only 6- of- 18 from the field, but he added eight assists and made two three- pointers and scored 12 points in the final 5: 03 to thwart a Wizards rally. Donyell Marshall added 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas 12 for the Cavs. Washington’s Gilbert Arenas, who scored a league- high 43 on Saturday night against San Antonio, was held to 18 — 10 below his average — and shot just 4-of- 17. Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 26 points and Caron Butler had 14. BOBCATS at MAGIC:
Dwight Howard had 21 points and 20 rebounds, as Orlando beat Charlotte 85- 77. Howard and Charlotte’s Emeka Okafor were the top two picks in the 2004 draft.
Okafor got into early foul trouble and had just eight points — all in the fourth quarter — and six rebounds.
Keith Bogans led Charlotte with a season- high 18 points off the bench, while Sean May added 15 points and 10 rebounds. DeShawn Stevenson had 16 points and Steve Francis added 13 points, five rebounds and six assists. Tony Battie had 11 points and 12 rebounds — his first doubledouble of the season — in the Magic’s first home win. SUPERSONICS at NETS:
Nenad Krstic scored 25 points as New Jersey defeated Seattle 109- 99. Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson added 19 points for the Nets, which snapped a twogame losing streak. Scott Padgett scored a season-high 13 points off the bench for the Nets. Rashard Lewis had 29 points for Seattle. Ray Allen finished with 19 points but had only 10 field goal attempts, making four.