WHAT THE PISTONS ARE SAYING: 81

In about 42 minutes Sunday night, Kobe Bryant made history, scoring 81 points in the Lakers' 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. Bryant made 28 field goals out of 46 attempts and hit 18 of 20 free throws to reach 81, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 for most individual points scored in a game.
What a few Pistons had to say about the accomplishment:
Coach Flip Saunders
"Phenomenal. Amazing. (Sunday) was an NFL day. But the NBA stole the show ... I think the most amazing thing about Kobe scoring 81 was how easy he made it look. It's not like he made a lot of difficult shots. A lot of the shots he took were open shots. ... I was going crazy on the bench here trying to hold (Tracy) McGrady to 43 (Sunday), and Kobe had twice that. I said, 'I hate to see what I would have been like with a guy going for 81.' But I mean, he has the ability. He's a phenomenal player. He has a great amount of competitiveness, and I think the No. 1 thing, he said it after the game, was not about scoring 81, but that's what he thought he needed to do for his team to get the win. So I think he did what he had to do in order to get wins."
Guard Chauncey Billups
"That was unbelievable. I saw some of the game. It was great. I've never seen a performance like that ever ... He had it going. If you've got it going, you're supposed to keep it going. And I think people on his team should feel the same way. If you get someone on your team who's having a special night like that, it's only right to try and let it be as good as it can. You'll never see my 80. I'm not in that kind of shape to score that much. That's crazy. I think in high school one time I had 56. And my arm and my shoulder were so tired, I had to ice that thing down. That really takes so much energy to score those kind of points. ... No way I could do that."
Guard Lindsey Hunter
"See a guy score 81 points and nobody fouled out? That was my concern. I'm going to be fouled out of the game or something. Something has to give. My most ever was probably 48 in college and that was a big deal. It didn't even look right. I'm a defensive guy, so I look at the box, and say, 'Who fouled out?' Because if a guy is just scoring like that, I know I'm using my six (fouls)." (Raptors Chris Bosh fouled out and Morris Peterson and Matt Bonner each have five fouls.)
Forward Dale Davis
"No matter what type of game it is, to get 81 says a lot of his talent level. I don't think it's selfish. If a guy gets it going, if you're trying to win, you should want to get him the ball. He's the key to their team, so he's going to have to make shots for them. I scored in the 40s. I can't imagine getting up 40-some shots."

Hamilton and Wallace guide Detroit Pistons past weakened New York Knicks

Richard Hamilton scored 26 points and Rasheed Wallace added 23 to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 105-79 win over a weakened New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Without injured leading scorer Stephon Marbury and suspended Antonio Davis, the Knicks could offer only mild resistance against the surging Pistons, who stormed to their sixth straight victory. Tayshaun Prince contributed 18 points to the Detroit total while Carlos Delfino added 11 and Chauncey Billups dished out 13 assists as the Pistons improved their record to an NBA best 32-5. Eddy Curry paced New York with 26 points and eight rebounds while Channing Frye added 15 as the Knicks slipped to their fourth straight defeat. The Knicks had to do without Marbury for a second consecutive game due to an injured shoulder and learned just before tip-off they would be without Davis for the next five games. Davis was handed the suspension for charging into the stands to confront a fan during Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls. Davis left the Knicks bench with 1:04 remaining in overtime and climbed into the stands to intervene after seeing what he thought was a fan harassing his wife. President of the NBA Players Association, Davis did not throw a punch or act aggressively toward the male spectator, who was seated near Davis’ wife, Kendra, and their two children. He was, however, ejected from the game and escorted from the court. Larry Brown, who guided Detroit to an NBA championship in 2004 and left at the end of last season to take over as coach of the struggling Knicks, got little sympathy from his former team. The Pistons roared to a 28-13 lead in the opening 12 minutes and led by as many 30 in the final quarter. In Sacramento, Mike Bibby bagged 40 points and Kenny Thomas had his first career triple-double to offset a brilliant performance from Kobe Bryant as the Kings battled to a 118-109 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Thomas had 16 points, including six in overtime, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while Brad Miller also contributed l6 points to the win. In claiming their third straight victory, the Kings had to overcome a 51 point effort from Bryant, that included a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer, was on fire in the opening quarter hitting for 21 points to stake the Lakers to a 31-27 lead. However, it was the Kings that led 54-52 at the intermission, setting the stage for a seesaw battle in the second half. Trailing 102-97 with 35 seconds to play, the Kings rallied with Miller hitting a three pointer with four seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime.

James solves Pistons

LeBron James scored 30 points with seven rebounds and seven assists yesterday in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 97-84 win over the Detroit Pistons, who had their winning streak stopped at nine and lost for just the fourth time this season.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points, Larry Hughes 16 and Drew Gooden 12 with 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who posted their most impressive victory and improved to 13-3 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Pistons, who came in on pace to win a record 73 regular-season games, shot a season-low 36 percent (29-of-81) from the floor and dropped to 24-4 -still one of the best starts in NBA history.
Mavericks 95, Hornets 90
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points to help Dallas beat New Orleans.Jason Terry and Josh Howard scored 20 apiece for the Mavericks, who beat the Hornets for the 16th straight game dating to November 1999. David West led the Hornets with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Speedy Claxton came off the bench to score 17, and Chris Paul had 16 points and 10 assists.
Suns 107, Bulls 98, OT
Shawn Marion scored eight of his 28 points in overtime and Eddie House hit a key 3-pointer to lead Phoenix over the slumping Bulls.
Tied at 92 after regulation, Marion scored the Suns' first six points in overtime. His spinning layup on the right block made it 98-94 and sent the Bulls into a timeout with 2:17 left.
Warriors 94, Rockets 89
Baron Davis scored 23 points and Jason Richardson added 22 to help Golden State hold off reeling Houston.
Davis also had seven assists and five rebounds and Richardson added six rebounds and five assists for the Warriors.
Saturday's late game
Kings 116, Celtics 112
Mike Bibby had 33 points and 10 assists, Kenny Thomas added a season-high 29 points and the injury-depleted Sacramento Kings finished a dismal December with a win over Boston.
Kevin Martin scored a career-best 22 points for the Kings, who weathered Boston's impressive third-quarter rally with tenacious play in the fourth. Peja Stojakovic, Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim all missed the game with injuries, but Sacramento won its second straight without three of its top four scorers.
Ricky Davis had a season-high 33 points for the Celtics.

Pistons impressed with play of Cavs

The Cavaliers didn't just beat the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, they impressed them.
It's a two-way street. After all, just 24 hours before tipoff, Cavs coach Mike Brown was extolling the Pistons' starting five as the ``best-ever.''
But the way the Cavs beat the Eastern Conference's reigning dynasty, getting ahead of the Pistons by 20 points for just the second time this season with smothering defense and game-long intensity, it reminded the Pistons of themselves a bit.
``They come to play every night,'' Pistons defensive master Ben Wallace said of the Cavs. ``That's all you have to do in this league to be successful.''
More and more and much to the pleasure of Brown, that's what the Cavs are doing. At the end of the Cavs' last bump in the road, when they dropped seven out of nine games last month, Brown insisted his team was getting better at team defense.
The Cavs are 7-1 in their past eight games with impressive wins over the Pacers, Heat and Pistons, and their defense has carried them.
In the past four games, the Cavs' opponents are shooting just 41 percent. In the past six, they're shooting just 26 percent from 3-point range, once a severe sore spot.
It is further indication that Brown's help defensive plan might be starting to sink in. Or it could be a blip on the radar in which the Cavs have benefited from playing a string of games at home. The Pistons left thinking it was the former.
``I think they're playing well as a unit... they're tough when everybody can contribute like that,'' Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. ``You have to give them credit.''
Pistons' grumbles
The talk among some Cavs players after the game was just how much the Pistons complain to officials about calls, a reputation that has been getting around the league this season. Saturday, both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess were hit with technicals for complaining about calls, even though the Cavs were called for more fouls and the Pistons took more free throws. The irony/coincidence is that the Pistons have had the fewest fouls called on them in the NBA this season and have taken 140 more free throws than the opposition.
Dribbles
Zydrunas Ilgauskas has three double-doubles in the past five games.... Taking advantage of Sunday's day off, Damon Jones flew to New York and appeared on ESPN's New Year's Eve coverage from Times Square.

Billups a triple threat at point guard

Point guard Chauncey Billups remains a Most Valuable Player candidate despite playing his worst game of the season (2-of-11 shooting, six turnovers) on Saturday against the Cavaliers.
The Detroit Pistons are the best team in the league, and Billups has played a large part for the Pistons' early run.
"[There are] several things you want in a point guard," said Pistons coach Flip Saunders. "You want a point guard who can distribute the ball, a point guard who can score and a point guard who can defend. He's the only point guard who can do all three."Billups is averaging 19 points and 8.6 assists per game. He's third in the league in assists, and his 44.6 3-point shooting percentage is eighth. Billups has two 30-point games and he dished out a career-high 19 assists against Sacramento earlier this season. But Billups' game has been more than statistics. He is already one of the best defenders in the game and he's been key to several huge wins for the Pistons.
Billups scored 28 points and had a career-best 19 assists against the Kings, 15 points, eight assists and just one turnover in only 26 minutes against the Bulls, and he had 21 points and 12 assists against Charlotte. He tied a season high with 30 points against the Heat last week.
This is all coming from a player who was the MVP of the NBA Finals two years ago. His play does not surprise Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars.
"It's not like he's come out of the blue," Dumars said. "He's been here for four years. Chauncey's been great for us for the past few years. Watching him play and seeing the freedom that he has on the court and what he's doing out there does not surprise me."
Come back:
Suns forward Amare Stoudemire may attempt to play this season after having microfracture surgery on his left knee in October. Stoudemire is back on the basketball court shooting free throws and doing some light work with some discomfort, but no pain.
Doctors now say he is ahead of schedule. Stoudemire, however, will not push things.