NBA

Pistons hold LeBron to 11

By wire services
Published December 17, 2004

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - When LeBron James shot two airballs on a single possession in the first quarter, it was a sign of things to come.

Richard Hamilton scored 21 and the Pistons almost held James scoreless in the second half in an 81-69 win Thursday night.

James finished with a season-low 11 points on 4-of-21 shooting.

"I missed a lot of shots that I'm normally going to make, but they were playing really tough defense against me," said James. "Every time I came off a screen, they doubled me."

After making a fadeaway jumper over Ben Wallace at the end of the first half, James didn't score again until there was 2:12 left in the game.

James scored a career-high 43 the last time he faced the Pistons, a 92-76 win on Nov. 28 in Cleveland.

"He got whatever he wanted in the last game," Rasheed Wallace said. "Not this time."

Detroit outscored the Cavaliers 21-6 in the third quarter and led by double digits for much of the final quarter. The six-point quarter matched a season low in the league.

"We lost our poise," Cleveland coach Paul Silas said. "We had everything going for us, but we didn't do a good job with it. Even when they made their run and we were only five or six points behind, we were worried about the officials and things going wrong. You can't do that. We have to learn from this."

Cleveland point guard Eric Snow was sent to the locker room after getting in an argument on the bench with Silas in the second quarter. Snow returned to the bench after halftime, but backup Dajuan Wagner played in his place.

Silas was upset with Snow because the Cavs turned the ball over on an eight-second violation.

BULLS 85, BUCKS 77: Kirk Hinrich scored nine of his 28 in a 15-0 run as the Bulls won consecutive games for the first time this season.

"Earlier in the year, we were up tight and we weren't playing with very much confidence and it's almost like the exact opposite now," Hinrich said.

Eddy Curry added 18 for the Bulls, who won for the fourth time in six games. Michael Redd had 22 for Milwaukee, which lost its third straight and is 1-9 on the road.

ALL-STAR VOTING: Shaquille O'Neal tops the Eastern Conference with 854,930 votes as of Thursday. Yao Ming of the Rockets is the only player with more votes, 881,223. Fans can vote through Jan. 23. All-Star starters will be announced Feb. 3. The game is Feb. 20.

DIVAC HOMECOMING: Vlade Divac returned to Arco Arena with the Lakers Thursday. "I miss the fans. Arco, it's a special place. I thought I was going to finish here, but I'm happy I spent six years here - probably the best six years of my career," said Divac. He was one of Sacramento's most popular players before signing a two-year, $4.9-million contract that doubled the Kings' offer. Divac has been a disappointment with the Lakers. He missed the first three weeks of the season with back problems, and has played just 34 minutes in seven games.

BUCKS: Guard Erick Strickland will miss at least two weeks after being placed on the injured list with a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. Strickland is averaging 4.3 points and 2.2 assists.

[Last modified December 17, 2004, 00:41:03]