Iverson, Pistons halt Cavs' winning streak

Miami's Dwyane Wade, who scored 40 points and added 11 assists, tries his hand at defense against Toronto's Chris Bosh. (Jeffrey M. Boan/Associated Press)

The Allen Iverson-led Detroit Pistons have cooled off two of the NBA's best teams in less than a week.

Iverson had 23 points and Rasheed Wallace added 21, leading a fourth-quarter surge that gave the Pistons a 96-89 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers last night.

LeBron James had led Cleveland to an eight-game winning streak - the longest in the NBA - but he made just eight of 21 shots and scored 25 points.

The Pistons handed the Los Angeles Lakers their only defeat, beating them, 106-95, Friday night on the road.

The Cavs (9-3) are a half-game ahead of the Pistons (8-3) in the Central Division.

It looked as if Cleveland was going to beat the Pistons the first time it saw them with Iverson. The Cavaliers led, 24-16, after the first quarter and enjoyed double-digit leads in the second and third quarters.

But Wallace made two free throws early in the fourth to put the Pistons ahead for the first time since midway through the first quarter.

After some lead changes, Wallace gave Detroit the lead for good with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions midway through the fourth.

Cleveland's Mo Williams scored 25 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points.

Raptors 101, Heat 95 - Andrea Bargnani scored a season-high 25 points, Jermaine O'Neal finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds, and visiting Toronto overcame a huge night by Dwyane Wade to beat Miami.

Anthony Parker scored 19 points, and Chris Bosh added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who blew a 17-point, late third-quarter lead but ultimately scrambled to beat Miami for the second time in four days.

Wade had season highs of 40 points and 11 assists for Miami, his fifth time scoring 30 or better in his last nine outings. But he could not overcome the inside-outside game of the Raptors, who hurt Miami inside during the first half, then put on a 3-point display after intermission, going 8 for 8 in the final 24 minutes.

Shawn Marion added 20 points and 14 rebounds for Miami.

Mavericks 96, Rockets 86 - Dallas didn't need Josh Howard as much as Houston missed Yao Ming.

Jason Terry scored 31 points, and Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds in the visiting Mavericks' victory.

Howard, the Mavs' second-leading scorer, was inactive because of a left ankle injury, while Yao, Houston's top scorer, was out with a sore left foot.

The Mavericks made the better adjustment to their loss, leading most of the game, outrebounding Houston, 46-40, and holding the Rockets to one of their worst shooting performances (37 percent from the field) of the season.

Nuggets 91, Spurs 81 - Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, Carmelo Anthony added 21, and surging Denver cruised to a victory in San Antonio.

Kenyon Martin added 18 points and Nene had 16 to round out a balanced attack by the Nuggets (8-4), who have won four straight and seven of eight. Denver improved to 5-1 since Billups joined the lineup.

Hawks 91, Wizards 87 - Marvin Williams hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 26 seconds left and the Hawks overcame Caron Butler's 32-point effort to beat Washington in Atlanta.

Jazz 105, Bucks 94 - C.J. Miles scored a season-high 25 points, Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 11 rebounds before leaving because of a strained quadriceps, and host Utah rallied to beat Milwaukee.

Timberwolves 102, 76ers 96 - Al Jefferson scored 6 of his 25 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to lift host Minnesota, snapping an eight-game losing streak.

Kings 105, Hornets 96 - John Salmons scored 29 points and Bobby Jackson had all 8 of his points in the final 5:10 to help Sacramento on the road.

Clippers 108, Thunder 88 - Cuttino Mobley scored 12 of his season-high 23 points during a 23-4 third-quarter run that carried Los Angeles to a victory over host Oklahoma City in a matchup between one-win teams.

Trail Blazers 116, Bulls 74 - Greg Oden had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks in his home debut for Portland and the Trail Blazers built a 30-point, first-half lead in a victory over Chicago.