nba ROUNDUP Thursday’s games

Pistons 101, Nuggets 99

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Charlie Villanueva scored 27 points, and Rodney Stuckey had 26 to help the banged-up Detroit Pistons hold on for a victory over former teammate Chauncey Billups and the Denver Nuggets. Billups missed a layup in the final seconds, allowing the Pistons to run their winning streak to a season-best four games. Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points for Denver, Billups had 21 and reserve J.R. Smith added 14. The Northwest Division-leading Nuggets have lost consecutive games for just the second time this season after winning four straight and eight of 10. Detroit was without Richard Hamilton (right ankle), Ben Gordon (left ankle), Will Bynum (ankles) and Tayshaun Prince (back). Denver’s Kenyon Martin (dislocated left pinkie) missed his second straight game.

Celtics 104, Wizards 102

WASHINGTON — Rajon Rondo’s driving dunk with a minute remaining broke a tie and led the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics to their ninth straight victory. Rondo had 21 points and 11 assists, and Ray Allen had 18 and became the 32nd NBA player to score 20,000 points. Kevin Garnett had 17 points, and Kendrick Perkins added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 25 points, but missed a pair of free throws with 26.7 seconds to play. Arenas missed five of his six free throws. After Paul Pierce hit one of two free throws to make it 101-98, Arenas hit a layup with 17 seconds to make it 101-100. Allen hit two free throws with 14.6 left for a 103-100 lead. Arenas and Randy Foye missed 3-point attempts in the final seconds. The Celtics are 18-4 and have won 10 of their 11 road games. With the victory, they broke a tie with Orlando for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards, who have lost three straight, hit their first four shots of the game, and made 10 of their first 15 to take a 26-19 lead with 3:43 to play in the first quarter. Washington missed its last seven shots of the quarter as the Celtics started a 21-6 run to take a 40-32 lead with 8:17 to play in second quarter.

Associated Press