Iverson, Prince carry Pistons

By Associated Press  |  January 1, 2009

Allen Iverson and Tayshaun Prince stepped up for the shorthanded Detroit Pistons.

Iverson scored 19 points, and Prince added 16 to help the Pistons win their fifth straight game, an 83-75 victory over the New Jersey Nets in Auburn Hills, Mich., yesterday.

"When any team in the league loses three of their top six guys, things are going to change for them," Pistons coach Michael Curry said. "Luckily, a lot of other guys stepped up."

Detroit played without Rip Hamilton (groin) and Antonio McDyess (ribs), and lost Rasheed Wallace to a first-half foot injury, but still held the Nets to a season low.

"No one was going to come in and be Sheed, Rip, or Dice, but we have guys who will come off the bench and help us in their own way," Iverson said. "We just had to utilize that, even when it meant playing a totally different style."

The Nets lost some of their advantage when Vince Carter was ejected for arguing a second-quarter call with referee Derrick Stafford.

Carter argued a call on an out-of-bounds play, then appeared to get extremely angry after receiving a technical. He was quickly given a second technical and had to be restrained by coach Lawrence Frank and teammate Devin Harris.

Rookie Brook Lopez led New Jersey with 23 points and 12 rebounds, but the Nets weren't able to overcome an 11-point second quarter.

Magic 113, Bulls 94 - Rashard Lewis set the tone by scoring 16 of his 21 points in the first half and visiting Orlando rolled over Chicago for its eighth win in nine games.

Lewis's teammates were on target, too. Hedo Turkoglu added 18 points. Dwight Howard scored 15, and the Southeast Division leaders came through with a dominant performance after their seven-game win streak ended in a 6-point loss at Detroit Monday.

Nuggets 114, Raptors 107 - Nene scored 21 points, Carmelo Anthony added 20, and Denver beat host Toronto.

Denver coach George Karl earned his 900th career regular-season victory. He is 10th on the career list.

Rockets 85, Bucks 81 - Yao Ming had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Luis Scola added 11 points and 10 boards, and host Houston beat Milwaukee.

Ron Artest had 15 points and reserve Carl Landry added 14 as the Rockets beat the Bucks for the eighth straight time.

Michael Redd scored 20, Richard Jefferson had 16, and Luke Ridnour dished out 11 assists for the Bucks.

Thunder 107, Warriors 100 - Jeff Green scored 26 points, Kevin Durant added 25, and host Oklahoma City beat Golden State for just its fourth victory of the season.