NBA : Wizards top Pistons in first-place showdown
Gilbert Arenas had 36 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds Tuesday night as the Washington Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 104-99 in a first-place showdown in Washington.
The win kept the Wizards ahead of the Pistons atop the Eastern Conference and gave the teams a split of the four-game season series, leveling the first tiebreaker should they finish the regular season with the same record.
Chauncey Billups scored 24 points, Tayshaun Prince had 19 points, and Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace finished with 15 apiece for the Pistons.
“Wizards forward Antawn Jamison sprained his left knee in the first quarter of the game.
Knicks 99, Lakers 94: At New York, Eddy Curry had 27 points and nine rebounds and Stephon Marbury scored 22 points as the Knicks held on to beat Los Angeles, which played without leading scorer Kobe Bryant.
Bryant sat out after he was suspended one game without pay by the NBA for striking San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili in the face in Sunday’s game against the Spurs.
Cavaliers 124, Warriors 97: At Cleveland, Sasha Pavlovic scored a career-high 24 points filling in for the injured LeBron James and the Cavaliers rolled past Golden State.
James sat out to rest his sprained right big toe. The All-Star forward injured the toe during a Jan. 19 game at Denver.
Heat 110, Bucks 80: At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and the Heat beat Milwaukee to snap a three-game losing streak. Wade played three quarters and shot 12 of 17 from the field.
“Shaquille O’Neal was inactive for the game after hurting his calf in practice Monday.
Pacers 103, Celtics 96: At Indianapolis, Jamaal Tinsley scored a season-high 28 points as Indiana beat Boston to hand the Celtics their 12th straight loss. Jermaine O’Neal added 25 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers.
Around the league
Memphis waived guard Eddie Jones after agreeing to a buyout of his contract. … New Orleans point guard Chris Paul returned to practice for the first time in a month to test his sprained right ankle. … Denver guard Allen Iverson will miss today’s game against the Trail Blazers in Portland after spraining his right ankle.