Lakers 93, Pistons 81

It was a tale of teams that were certainly not on the same level.

While Kobe was great, the Lakers came out like a well-oiled machine tonight, dismantling the Pistons on the road. The defense during the entire game helped create double-digit leads down the stretch.

While Kobe Bryant dished in 28 points, he also had 5 steals. Ron Artest added 6 of his own, but also chipped in 9 assists on 14 points. Seeing a statline like that makes me wonder if the Lakers, when all “pistons” are firing, can be stopped. They were beating Detroit, a team known for its defense the past couple of years, at their own game.

Detroit, while missing Rip Hamilton, managed to prevent the game from becoming a blowout, thanks to decent play all-around by Rodney Stuckey  and Jonas Jerebko.

Stat of the Game- Pistons sharing the wealth during the holidays…9 out of 10 players who entered the game played more than 20 minutes (except Jason Maxiel, who played 13).

Mavs 102, Cavs 95

No Dirk? No problem.

Playing only 8 members of the roster, Dallas went blow-for-blow with King James and his court, and ended up pulling out the victory at home.

Dallas played an incredible game – imagine your entire team having an assist/turnover ratio of 4.2:1. Thats INCRBL. They protected the ball, hit the glass hard, and managed to create for their big men down low.

Tim Thomas led the attack, finishing with 22 points and shooting 50% from the field. Jason Terry was great off the bench, finishing with 19. Jason Kidd played the role of playmaker, tossing in 11 assists.

Meanwhile, LeBron is just not getting any help. In 43 minutes of play, he scored 25 points, but the rest of the starters did not answer the call. Mo Williams (8 points) and Shaquille O’Neal (5 points, 1-7 shooting) did not have desirable games tonight.

Delonte West (18 pts)  and Anderson Varejao (13 pts) provided the rest of the offense coming off the bench.

-Duts