Pistons find range, douse Miami Heat – 76ers maintain dismal record following Grizzlies mauling; Raptors beat Mavs

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MIAMI, Dec 23,  (RTRS): The Detroit Pistons have had their best long distance shooting performances against the Miami Heat so far this season.

The Pistons made 15 3-pointers Tuesday night and erased an early 18-point deficit in a 93-92 victory over the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The outcome ironically came down to a pair of jumpers that the Heat missed.

Heat guard Dwyane Wade had a chance to give the Heat (16-11) the lead in the closing seconds, but missed a pull-up jumper that was rebounded by Pistons forward Andre Drummond with 1.9 seconds left.

Drummond left the door open for Miami, however, when he missed two subsequent free throws.

But Heat forward Chris Bosh missed on an open look with a foot on the 3-point line at the buzzer as the shot bounced off the rim. A replay later showed that the shot would not have counted as time expired with the ball still on Bosh’s hand.

Detroit (17-12) made a season-high 16 3-pointers in its first game against the Heat on Nov. 25 which resulted in a 104-81 victory. On Tuesday, the Pistons won their fifth game in their past six, largely by making seven triples in the second quarter as they outscored the Heat 36-18 following a 34-18 first quarter in favor of the Heat.

Grizzlies 104, 76ers 90

In Philadelphia, Marc Gasol scored 19 points for Memphis, and Mike Conley had 18 points and six assists.

The Grizzlies had five players score in double figures. Courtney Lee had 15 points, reserve Zach Randolph added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Matt Barnes finished with 12 points and 10 boards. Jahlil Okafor scored 18 points and Hollis Thompson contributed 16 for Philadelphia, which dropped to 1-29 while losing its 11th straight game. Now the 76ers head out for a six-game trip, and they have lost 22 in a row on the road.

Philadelphia had 28 turnovers and shot 65.6 percent (21 for 32) from the free-throw line.

Lakers 111, Nuggets 107

In Denver, Kobe Bryant tied a season high with 31 points after missing a game with a sore right shoulder, and Los Angeles rallied from a 21-point, first-half deficit to beat short-handed Denver.

Bryant also had five assists and played stellar defense to help bottle up the hot-shooting Will Barton, who had 23 points in the first half only to finish with 25.

The 37-year-old Bryant announced last month he would retire after the season. He received plenty of cheers during his penultimate game in the Mile High City, including chants of “Kobe, Kobe” in the waning seconds.

Up 103-100 with 1:23 remaining, Bryant hit two free throws and then a jumper to seal the Lakers’ fifth win of the season.

Raptors 103, Mavs 99

In Toronto, Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 28 points and the Raptors held off a late rally to beat visiting Dallas 103-99 Tuesday in an NBA thriller.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry added 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while center Bismack Biyombo scored nine points and grabbed a career-best 20 rebounds and Luis Scola added 15 points and nine rebounds for Toronto.

The Raptors never trailed, up by as many as 18 points in the first quarter and well ahead when the Mavericks brought in a reserve unit with barely five minutes remaining.

The Mavericks battled back and trailed by only two points with 11.6 seconds to play on a Jeremy Evans layup, but Evans missed a free throw and Toronto’s Terrence Ross made two free throws, the last of his 16 points, to finish the scoring.

German star forward Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks (15-13) with 20 points and seven rebounds. He stands 10 points shy of passing Shaquille O’Neal for sixth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Gediminas Petraitis performs before thousands of people as a full-time NBA referee.

A much smaller crowd watched him realize another dream Tuesday.

The NBA official from Lithuania was naturalized as a US citizen in Maryland, where his road to the hardwood began when he swapped his Sports Authority uniform for a referee’s shirt.

The 26-year-old was one of 71 people who took their oaths in the ceremony in Baltimore, and he was selected to lead them in the Pledge of Allegiance.

“How cool is that?” said Bob Delaney, the NBA’s vice president of referee development and performance, who attended the ceremony along with Petraitis’ family. “From my standpoint, it was just a proud to be an American moment as well as the pride of another NBA referee being in front of that room.”

Gediminas Petraitis (get-uh-MIN’-ees pet-RY’-tis) followed his parents and older sister in obtaining citizenship. Family members who remain in the European country sent him congratulatory text messages.

“The US is a great country and any time you have the ability or the option to, it’s something you cannot pass on, I believe,” Petraitis said before the ceremony.

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