Richard Hamilton scored 26 points, Rasheed Wallace added 23, and the Detroit Pistons beat the undermanned and overmatched New York Knicks 105-79 on Thursday for their sixth straight victory.
With Antonio Davis suspended for five games after going into the stands the night before in Chicago and leading scorer Stephon Marbury still injured, the Knicks trailed by as many as 30 points and matched their worst loss of the season. They have dropped four in a row in a span of five nights.
Davis was ejected from Wednesday's overtime loss in Chicago for entering the stands to confront a fan he thought was harassing his wife. He was suspended five games by the NBA on Thursday. With Davis and Marbury out, the Knicks were forced to start three rookies against what many consider the NBA's best starting five.
PHOTO: AP
Tayshaun Prince scored 18 for the Pistons, who have won both meetings this season against Knicks coach Larry Brown. He led Detroit to NBA Finals appearances in both his seasons with the Pistons, including the 2004 title.
While improving the best start in franchise history to 32-5, the Pistons have won every game during their current winning streak by double digits.
Kings 118, Lakers 109, OT
At Sacramento, California, Mike Bibby scored 40 points, Kenny Thomas had six points in overtime to cap his first career triple-double, and Sacramento overcame Kobe Bryant's 51-point performance for an overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brad Miller scored 16 points and forced overtime on a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left in regulation for the Kings, who won their third straight game in a thriller despite Bryant's best game ever against the Lakers' longtime rivals.
The NBA scoring leader got 21 points in the first quarter and 12 more in the final 5:43 of regulation, also making all 13 of his free throws to extend his franchise record to 48 straight.
The Kings fell behind 102-97 with 35 seconds left on Lamar Odom's 3-pointer -- but Sacramento scored seven quick points, tying it at 104 on Miller's 3-pointer from straightaway. Odom missed a long shot at the buzzer.
Odom fouled out in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and Sacramento went up 111-104 on Bibby's sixth 3-pointer and consecutive baskets by Thomas, who had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. With 54 seconds left, Thomas set up a 3-pointer by rookie Francisco Garcia, whose tight defense against Bryant prevented a huge game from becoming historic.
Odom and Smush Parker berated official Dan Crawford after the final buzzer in Los Angeles' second loss in eight games.
Bibby scored 24 points in the second half, and the Kings got a boost from the return of injured starters Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Peja Stojakovic. Sacramento has won four of five.
Little by little, Virginia's players are understanding more and more of coach Dave Leitao's teachings, and it's starting to show.
"Good things are happening," guard J.R. Reynolds said.
Reynolds was one of those good things Thursday night, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the last 11 minutes when the surprising Cavaliers used a big run to go ahead for good and then held on to beat equally young No. 24 North Carolina 72-68.
"It's a learning process, and we're getting better each day," Reynolds said.
Guard Sean Singletary, whose first season came in the difficult last season under Pete Gillen, agreed and said things should only continue to get better.
"We're buying into what he's saying," Singletary said. "He's been preaching to us since he first stepped foot in Charlottesville. It feels like everybody is really responding to what he's saying. When it comes game time, it's really showing."
The victory was the second in a row for the Cavaliers (9-6, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), following up a 54-49 win at Virginia Tech on Sunday.
The results, Leitao said, show the team that he knows what he's doing when insisting they play tough defense, take care of the ball and play with discipline.
"I can talk until I'm blue in the face, but these proving points happen, fortunately or unfortunately, when you win or lose games," he said.
North Carolina (10-4, 2-2) lost its second straight. The Tar Heels were stunned 81-70 at home by Miami on Saturday, ending a four-game winning streak, and were stymied by Virginia's interior defense on Tyler Hansbrough and 36 percent shooting.
"Their guards just dominated the game," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
Singletary led Virginia with 18 points, but had only two down the stretch when Reynolds, freshman Laurynas Mikalauskas and Jason Cain all made big plays.
Mikalauskas twice scored on putbacks and grabbed several key rebounds, and Cain finished with just seven points and five rebounds, but added five blocks, several in the final minutes as the Tar Heels tried to get the ball inside to Hansbrough.
"Today just showed what we can do when everybody's playing well," Cain said.
WAsHINGTON 69, OREGON ST. 65
Washington missed its first 11 shots and finished a season-worst 33 percent from the field. And still they won.
"We don't mind scoring in the 60s as long as we win," Huskies preseason All-America Brandon Roy said. "Eventually, we'll start shooting better."
Bobby Jones made two key baskets down the stretch and sank two free throws with 16.5 seconds to go, finishing with 16 points to lead No. 10 Washington to a 69-65 victory over Oregon State on Thursday night.
The Huskies (15-2, 4-2 Pac-10) ended a two-game conference losing streak at home after they had a 32-game home winning streak broken. They won their third straight league game.
But it wasn't easy on a night when they didn't shoot well (24-for-72) and Roy struggled with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting.
Even when the Huskies were 0-for-11, though, Roy said the Huskies weren't worried.
"It was real scary because we were missing layups, too," he said. "But it was nothing we got nervous about."
Maybe the Huskies weren't nervous, but they weren't efficient offensively. And the Beavers were in the game until the finish.
Sophomore forward Marcel Jones, who led Oregon State (9-8, 2-4) with 14 points, said he didn't think the Huskies are the No. 10 team in the nation.
"They're good, they're really good," he said. "But I don't know if their ranking is what it's cracked up to be."
Flip Saunders of the Detroit Pistons will coach the Eastern Conference in the NBA All-Star game on Feb. 19 in Houston.
Coaches for the East and West squads are determined based on teams with the best winning percentage in each conference after the games of Feb. 5.
The Pistons (31-5) were assured of having the best record in the East with a victory over Atlanta coupled with Cleveland's loss to Denver on Wednesday.
Saunders's staff will join him as assistants.
The coach of the West squad has not been determined.
Starters for both teams will be announced on Feb. 2; reserves will be announced on Feb. 9.
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
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