• 
• 

 Chauncey Billups sank two free throws with one-tenth of a second left, and the Pistons handed the Boston Celtics their first home loss of the season with a dramatic 87-85 come-from-behind victory on Wednesday night.

 "I blew it with a turnover, so I just wanted to come up big for us at the end," said Billups, who netted 12 of his game-high 28 points in the final quarter.

 Knotted at 85, Billups looked to put the Pistons ahead, but lost the ball on a drive to the basket with five seconds to go. On the ensuing play, Paul Pierce had a chance to do the same for the Celtics, but missed a corner jumper. Rasheed Wallace grabbed the rebound and called timeout.

 Billups took the inbounds pass above the free throw line and pump- faked newly-inserted Tony Allen into the costly foul. A 91-per-cent free-throw shooter, he converted both tosses to seal the victory.

 "We saw a fresh guy come off the bench and we just went right to Chauncey," said Pistons forward Antonio McDyess, who had 13 points and 10 boards.

 Richard Hamilton scored 21 points for the Pistons (18-7), who shot just 40 per cent from the floor.

 Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Ray Allen scored 24 points, including the game-tying three with 19 ticks remaining.

 Although the Celtics (20-3) matched a franchise-best start, which included a perfect 12-0 at home, they wanted to use this match-up between the top two Eastern Conference teams as a barometre.

 With their home winning streak history and overall nine-game winning streak snapped, the Celtics know where they stand.

 "It was a good test for us, because we hadn't been tested in a while and we could see where we're at," said Pierce, who finished with 11 points. "We got a lot of work to do."

   Elsewhere:

   Dallas Mavericks 108, Phoenix Suns 105

   Reigning league MVP Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 of his 31 points in the final frame, helping the Mavericks shade the visiting Suns.

 Amare Stoudemire led the Suns (18-8) with 25 points. Steve Nash finished with 21 points and 18 assists, but missed a three-point try in the closing seconds that would have forced overtime.

 Memphis Grizzlies 88, San Antonio Spurs 85

   Rudy Gay buried the game-winning three-pointer to beat the buzzer and lift the Grizzlies over the visiting Spurs.

 Mike Miller led Memphis (8-17) with a season-high 31 points while Gay finished with 23.

 Argentine Manu Ginobili led the defending champion Spurs (18-7) with 20 points while Tim Duncan had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

 Atlanta Hawks 117, Miami Heat 111 (OT)

   Joe Johnson scored 26 points, including the go-ahead three-point play with 65 seconds left in overtime, helping the Hawks (13-12) beat the visiting Heat.

 Dwyane Wade had 36 points for Miami (7-18), which is expected to lose backup centre Alonzo Mourning for at least three months with a torn tendon in his right knee.

 Orlando Magic 97, Houston Rockets 92

   Dwight Howard had 21 points along with 11 rebounds and the Magic capitalized on the second-half loss of Tracy McGrady (sore left knee) to improve the league's best road record to 13-4.

 China's Yao Ming led the Rockets (12-13) with 19 points and 17 rebounds.

 New York Knicks 108, Cleveland Cavaliers 90

   David Lee scored 22 points, Jamal Crawford had 21 and the Knicks routed the Cavaliers.

 LeBron James led the visiting Cavaliers (11-15) with 32 points.

 Golden State Warriors 111, Minnesota Timberwolves 98

   Al Harrington scored 25 points, Monta Ellis had 24 and the Warriors ran past the league-worst Timberwolves.

 Al Jefferson led the host Timberwolves (3-21) with 24 points and 14 rebounds.

 Portland Trail Blazers 101, Toronto Raptors 96

   Brandon Roy had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, sending the Trail Blazers (14-12) to their ninth straight victory.

 Spain's Jose Calderon led the visiting Raptors (15-12) with 19 points and nine assists.

 Chicago Bulls 95, Washington Wizards 84

   Ben Gordon scored 22 points, and the Bulls closed on a 15-5 run to snap the Wizards' four-game winning streak.

 Caron Butler led the host Wizards (13-11) with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

 Indiana Pacers 102, Philadelphia 76ers 85

   Marquis Daniels scored a season-high 26 points, leading the Pacers to their third straight victory.

 Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller led the visiting Sixers (10-15) with 19 points apiece.

 Charlotte Bobcats 98, Utah Jazz 92

   Gerald Wallace scored 26 points, Jason Richardson had 24, and the Bobcats overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit with six minutes left.

 Carlos Boozer led the visiting Jazz (14-13) with 21 points and 15 rebounds.

 Sacramento Kings 102, Milwaukee Bucks 89= Ron Artest scored 26 points and Beno Udrih had 24 with a career-high six three-pointers, leading the Kings to their third straight road win.

 Michael Redd led the Bucks (10-15) with 27 points.

 New Orleans Hornets 107, Seattle SuperSonics 93

   Morris Peterson scored 25 points with seven three-pointers, while Chris Paul had 21 points and 15 assists, leading the visiting Hornets over the Sonics.

 Rookie Kevin Durant led Seattle (7-19) with 18 points.

DPA