Paul Pierce had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and the short-handed Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 104-97 on Tuesday night to win their fourth straight game.
Ray Allen scored 23 and Leon Powe added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics (40-9), who were playing without injured starters Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.
Danny Granger had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, and Shawne Williams scored 14 for the Pacers (21-31). Indiana was playing without injured starters Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley.
PHOTO: AFP
Pistons 94, Hawks 90
At Atlanta, Chauncey Billups came through when it mattered, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to rally Detroit to its ninth win in a row.
Rasheed Wallace carried the Pistons in the early going, scoring 15 straight points for his team in the first quarter and finishing with 21.
The Hawks lost their third in a row despite 30 points from Josh Smith.
Billups went 0-for-8 from the field through the first three quarters, but he looked more like himself in the fourth. He ripped off 10 straight points for Detroit, including a couple of 3s, turning a three-point deficit into an 89-86 lead with 2:25 remaining.
Nets 92, Timberwolves 88
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Bostjan Nachbar came off the bench in the second half and scored 10 of his 14 points in a decisive spurt for New Jersey.
Vince Carter added 17 points and 10 assists and Jason Kidd had nine points, nine assists and 10 rebounds in just missing his 100th triple-double.
Richard Jefferson added 13 points and 12 rebounds as the Nets won their third straight game.
Sebastian Telfair scored 24 points and Al Jefferson added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost for the 23rd time in 25 road games this season.
Nuggets 114, Heat 113, OT
At Miami, J.R. Smith made a career-best eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points, Kenyon Martin added 24, and Denver won its third straight.
Carmelo Anthony scored six of his 22 points in overtime for Denver. Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 29 points, but missed a 22-footer at the buzzer for Miami -- which has lost eight straight and 23 of its last 24 games.
Grizzlies 107, Kings 94
At Memphis, Hakim Warrick had 24 points and 13 rebounds -- both season-high totals -- to help Memphis snap a six-game losing streak and win for the first time since trading Pau Gasol to the Lakers on Feb. 1.
Memphis (14-37) had gone 0-4 since Gasol's departure. Rudy Gay added 21 points for the Grizzlies, reserve Juan Carlos Navarro scored 19 and Mike Miller finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Martin scored 26 of his 33 points in the first half and Ron Artest and Mike Bibby had 18 apiece.
Hornets 100, Bulls 86
At Chicago, Chris Paul had 25 points and 14 assists to help send Chicago to its sixth loss in nine games.
David West added 27 points for New Orleans and Tyson Chandler, who played five seasons for the Bulls before being traded before the 2006-2007 season, was booed throughout the game and scored four points and had 16 rebounds.
Andres Nocioni led the Bulls with 28 points and Kirk Hinrich finished with 15 points.
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