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Pistons throttle up against LA

Tayshaun Prince scored 20 points and Chris Webber had 18 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 93-78 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

The Pistons have won five straight and built a two-game lead for the best record in the Eastern Conference. They are 9-2 with Webber in the starting lineup.

Kobe Bryant had 18 points from 5-of-13 shooting and eight turnovers, one short of his career high. Ronny Turiaf scored 13, Lamar Odom had 12 points, Smush Parker scored 11 and rookie Jordan Farmar added 10 for the Lakers, who fell to 3-3 on their eight-game road trip.

The Pistons built a double-digit lead in the first quarter with crisp ball movement that led to 11 assists on 12 baskets and didn't have much trouble maintaining the cushion for the rest of the game. They have won eight straight at home against Los Angeles.

Hornets 109, Bucks 101, 2OT

At Oklahoma City, Desmond Mason scored 24 points and David West shrugged off a bruised hand to add 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds to lead New Orleans past Milwaukee.

It was the second straight overtime win for the Hornets, who survived on Mason's last-second tip-in a night earlier in Denver. The Hornets hadn't won back-to-back overtime games since beating San Antonio and Cleveland in games bracketing Christmas in 2000 -- when the team was still in Charlotte.

Mo Williams had 30 points and Ruben Patterson added 28 points and a season-high 16 rebounds to lead Milwaukee, which has lost eight straight road games.

West scored off his second straight offensive rebound to give the Hornets the lead at the outset of the second overtime and Bobby Jackson gave them a 103-99 edge with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:42 left. Chris Paul added a pair of free throws and West and Mason each hit one in the final minute to put the game away.

Kings 86, Bulls 77

At Sacramento, California, Kevin Martin scored 29 points, Mike Bibby had 21 and Sacramento defeated Chicago for its fourth straight victory.

Clinging to a four-point lead, Bibby made consecutive jumpers to stretch the Kings' advantage to 80-72 with 2:24 remaining. The cold-shooting Bulls could never get any closer than five points the rest of the way in losing their second straight game.

Ron Artest had 10 points and eight rebounds, while Brad Miller added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Kings, who had 20 turnovers.

Luol Deng had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich scored 18 points for Chicago, which shot 33 percent and has dropped eight straight games at Arco Arena dating back to Nov. 23, 1997.

Chris Duhon had nine points and Ben Wallace had 13 rebounds. Ben Gordon, the Bulls' leading scorer, missed all eight first-half shots and finished 3-for-16.
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