Pistons top Lakers
Tayshaun Prince’s 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left lifted the Detroit Pistons to a 90-89 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, overcoming Kobe Bryant’s big night in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Bryant had 39 points and 10 rebounds, but didn’t get a shot on the final possession, which ended with Lamar Odom’s airball. Bryant had an unusual triple-double, adding a career-high 11 turnovers to his scoring and rebounding numbers.
The Pistons have won nine straight over the Lakers, including three games to win the 2004 NBA finals.
Detroit led by as much as 17 in the first half, then fell behind when Bryant scored 10 straight points to put the Lakers ahead 62-58 with 4:18 left in the third.
The Lakers led 72-67, entering the fourth, and it was seesaw game the rest of the way.
Prince led the Pistons with 22 points while All-Stars Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton scored 16 and 14, respectively. Rookie reserves Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey added 10 apiece.
Derek Fisher scored 15 and Ronny Turiaf had 12 points for the Lakers.
Celtics 96, Mavericks 90: At Boston, point guard Rajon Rondo had a season-high 12 rebounds, following one of them with a putback layup with 42 seconds left to give the Celtics the lead, and Boston held on to beat Dallas.
Playing without Kevin Garnett for the third straight game, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen scored 26 points apiece to help the Celtics remain unbeaten against the Western Conference. They did it against one of the West’s best teams while overcoming 31 points and 11 rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki.
Spurs 84, Suns 81: At Phoenix, Tim Duncan banked in a shot with 30.9 seconds remaining, Manu Ginobili hit four late free throws and San Antonio rallied to beat the Suns.
The Spurs trailed most of the game, but Duncan’s big basket gave them an 80-79 lead. After the Suns turned the ball over, Ginobili hit a pair of free throws with 15.6 seconds left. Amare Stoudemire then made a layup with 8.7 seconds to go, pulling the Suns within 82-81, but he missed a free throw – his fifth of the game and fourth in the fourth period.
Ginobili completed the scoring with two more free throws with 6.5 seconds left, and a final Suns’ shot went awry.
All-Star reserves named
Chris Paul and David West were picked for their first All-Star game, giving the hometown Hornets a pair of players for the event.
Detroit (Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton), Phoenix (Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire) and Washington (Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison) also had multiple players chosen as reserves for the Feb. 17 game. Boston will only send two of its Big Three to the Big Easy. Paul Pierce was voted in by Eastern Conference head coaches to join starter Kevin Garnett, but Ray Allen fell short.
Toronto’s Chris Bosh and Atlanta guard Joe Johnson were the other players picked for the East, which will be coached by Boston’s Doc Rivers. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, the reigning NBA MVP, Utah’s Carlos Boozer and Portland guard Brandon Roy were selected from the West.
Missing out during the worst season of his career was Shaquille O’Neal, ending his streak of 14 consecutive All-Star selections. That tied the record held by Jerry West and Karl Malone.
Off the court
Celtics big man Kevin Garnett missed his third game in a row on, sitting out against the Dallas Mavericks because of an abdominal strain. … The Charlotte Bobcats signed 5-foot-5 point-guard Earl Boykins to a contract for the rest of the season worth the league minimum of about $1.1 million.