NBA Wrap: Pistons streak is over, Rockets stay hot in Cleveland, Nuggets ruin Kevin Garnett’s return

First time here? Subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Magic 103 - Pistons 85

It's not out of the norm to see a blowout at the Palace in Auburn Hills. It's just not usually the Pistons who are getting blown out. Maybe they had a little bit too much fun over the weekend though.

The Magic came into Detroit last night and snapped the Pistons 10 game win streak by puttin it on them in a 103-85 blowout. The Pistons knew that going into the All Star break on a streak and coming out and continuing that streak would be tough but I don't think anyone saw a blowout coming.

"You hate having a break when you are on a winning streak, because it messes with your momentum,'' Chauncey Billups said. "That's not an excuse, because we feel like we should have come in here and played better than that. No one likes losing like this.''

Surprisingly enough, the Magic didn't need much offensive help from their leading scorer and new dunk champion Dwight Howard. He finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds but he also had 4 blocked shots.

Rockets 93 - Cavaliers 85

The Rockets were led by Yao Ming and Rafer Alson into Cleveland in their first game back after the All Star break. They were in the same boat as the Pistons, coming in as the Western conferences hottest team winning 8 in a row, they didn't want to come out and lose any of their momentum.

Rafer scored 22 points and Yao added 16 points and 14 rebounds for their 9 straight road win and their 18th win in their last 21 games.

They did it mainly by their defense.  Even though LeBron James finished with a triple double, Shane Battier hounded him in the first half, forcing him to miss his first seven shots.  James managed to finish with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.  It wasn't enough though.

Nuggets 124 - Celtics 118

The Nuggets two headed monster ruined Kevin Garnett's first game back from injury.  Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson lead the way for the Nuggets.  Melo had 29 and A.I. had 28. 

The Nuggets 124-118 win over the Celtics puts a halt to their 16-0 record against the Western conference this season.  It probably didn't help the Celtics that KG finished with only 4 points on 2-7 shooting in 21 minutes.  He was mainly just happy to be back on the court though.

Around the league

• Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each scored 23 points and the Lakers beat the Hawks 122-93 for their fifth straight victory.
• Ron Artest scored 24 points, Francisco Garcia added 23, and the Sacramento Kings snapped a three-game losing streak with a 105-94 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
• Earl Watson scored a season-high 26 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 24, including the go-ahead score with 31 seconds remaining, to rally the Seattle SuperSonics to a 108-101 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
• Deron Williams had 29 points and 12 assists, and the Utah Jazz overcame a shaky first quarter and beat the Golden State 119-109, sweeping the season series against the Warriors.
• Manu Ginobili scored 18 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to an 85-65 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in the defending NBA champions' first home game in more than three weeks.
• Reserve Rashad McCants scored 20 points, Al Jefferson had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 104-88.
• Zach Randolph had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Jamal Crawford added 21 points and the New York Knicks broke a franchise record by scoring 23 points in overtime of a 113-100 victory over the Washington Wizards.