Source: ABS-CBN News
-- Reigning league MVP Derrick Rose hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, and the visiting Chicago Bulls pushed past the Detroit Pistons in the extra period to win 100-94.
Rose had a team-high 24 points and drained a three-pointer with 6.4 seconds to go in regulation that tied the game at 86-all.
The Bulls took control of the game for good in overtime when Joakim Noah tipped in his own miss, and Carlos Boozer followed it with a driving lay-up to put Chicago ahead 92-89.
"Derrick hit a huge shot at the end of the game and it gave us a new life," Noah told NBA.com. "It was a big win for us. In overtime, we just felt like it was our game."
Noah finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, while Boozer had 15 points and nine boards.
The Pistons could have won the game in regulation but Rodney Stuckey missed a free throw with 14.2 seconds to go that could have given Detroit a four-point advantage.
Stuckey finished with 32 points to lead all scorers, but he missed three free throws in the final two minutes of regulation, the last of which led to Rose’s game-tying three pointer. He also missed a potential game-winning jump shot at the buzzer.
"We did everything we needed to win the other than actually winning the game," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank lamented. "We made a ton of winning plays, but in this league it is all or nothing, and at the end, the outcome is a loss."
Despite hitting the game-tying three-pointer, Rose still struggled at times. He shot nine-of-22 from the floor and committed seven turnovers.
"We have a good team where I'm trying to catch up with my teammates, trying to play as hard as them, trying to get my rhythm back and they allow me to," Rose said. "They give me the ball in situations that I was in before the injury and I’m just trying to learn my way through it."
Rose has missed several games this season due to various ailments, including a groin injury that held him out for over 10 games.
The Bulls remain 3.5 games ahead of the Miami Heat for the top spot in the East with six games remaining in their schedule.
Short-handed Celtics rout Bobcats
Despite playing without Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics still easily defeated the league-worst Charlotte Bobcats, 94-82.
Rajon Rondo had 20 points and had his 22nd straight game with double-digits assists with 16 dimes to lead Boston.
Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass each scored 22 points, and the Celtics sent the Bobcats to their 16th loss in a row.
"When somebody is out, we have a group of guys who will step up. Tonight it was me and Avery, but with this team it could be anybody," Bass told NBA.com. "We got a veteran group."
"It was a terrific win. Rajon, Avery and Brando stepped up for us tonight on the offensive end. It was a great team win and makes everyone in that locker room feel good about themselves and realize what they mean to this team," Boston coach Doc Rivers said.
The 16-game losing streak is the Bobcats’ second of the season. They remain stuck at seven wins against 52 losses. If they lose their seven remaining games, they will set the record for the lowest winning percentage in NBA history.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors surprised the playoffs-bound Atlanta Hawks, 102-86.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 23 points, and Toronto dominated the paint, 46-28, even without power forward Andrea Bargnani.
Only Josh Smith was efficient for the Hawks as he scored 26 points on top of eight rebounds. No other Hawks started scored in double-figures.
Source: AFP,
DETROIT, Michigan – An emotional Dennis Rodman said it was hard to contemplate the honor of having his jersey number retired by the Detroit Pistons.
"I'm relieved that's over," Rodman said after a halftime ceremony in which a "Dennis Rodman 10" banner was raised to the rafters of the Pistons' Palace arena.
Rodman, who drew his share of critics with his outspoken ways in his playing days, will have to get used to such praise, however.
He said he was told Thursday to be in Houston for Sunday's announcement of inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
It all seemed a bit strange to Rodman.
"It's a surprise to me that my number is being retired," Rodman said, although his former teammates were not surprised to see his name go up among fellow members of the Pistons' onetime "Bad Boys" teams -- Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson.
"It's a well-deserved honor for Dennis," said Dumars, who is now the Pistons' president of basketball operations. "He was one of the great Bad Boys."
Detroit took Rodman in the second round of the 1986 NBA draft and he helped the team win NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.
He was then part of three of Chicago's Michael Jordan-era title teams, and also played for San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas.
Rodman averaged only 7.3 points a game, but his uncanny ability to guard point guards or centers and haul in rebounds at either end of the court made him a great.
He was a two-time defensive player of the year and two-time All-Star and set an NBA record by leading the league in rebounds over seven straight seasons.
With his changing hair colors and multiple tattoos he grabbed attention on the court, while his off-court antics -- from a relationship with Madonna to run-ins with the law -- also made headlines.
"In about four weeks, I'll be 50 years old," Rodman said. "I don't believe I made it to that."
Source: AP,
DETROIT, Michigan – Rajon Rondo had nine points and 17 assists to lead Boston to a 109-86 thrashing of Detroit, insuring the Pistons are off to their first 0-4 NBA start since 1999.
Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and Paul Pierce added 21 for the Celtics, who cruised to Tuesday's (Wednesday, in Manila) victory despite the absence of Shaquille O'Neal with a bruised right knee.
Charlie Villanueva scored 17 points for the Pistons, who played without Richard Hamilton, who is nursing a sore right foot.
Rondo had a triple-double with 24 assists Friday night against New York.
His performance on Tuesday gave him 67 assists through Boston's first four games.
O'Neal, who didn't make the trip, missed two straight practices since bruising his right knee against the Knicks.
Jermaine O'Neal started and scored 12 points, and rookie Semih Erden, a seven-footer from Turkey, made his debut.
Erden came in in the first quarter and quickly blocked two shots. He scored his first NBA points on a breakaway dunk in the second quarter.
Pierce's scoring performance left him needing 23 points to reach 20,000 for his career. He'll have a chance at the milestone when Boston host Milwaukee on Wednesday.
