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STAT SHEET STUFFER
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Gerald Wallace punished his former team on both ends of the court. Wallace scored 15 points to go with seven assists and snared three of his four rebounds on the offensive glass. And on the other side of the ball, he blocked two shots and came up with six steals in a 106-103 overtime win over the visiting Kings.
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RICK KAMLA'S FANTASY TAKE
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With Emeka Okafor downed by a sprained ankle, Primoz Brezec went off for 26 points and eight boards. He's been good for 43 and 15 over the last two games, and he should maintain that pace as long as 'Mek is out.
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GAME OF THE NIGHT
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The Grizzlies, down by 11 early in the fourth quarter, fought back and tied the game on a Pau Gasol finger roll with 7.7 seconds left and after Chauncey Billups missed a shot, the teams headed to overtime. The Pistons never trailed in the first OT period, but the Grizzlies refused to fold. Gasol again tied it, this time with a dunk with 10.9 left on the clock, and Billups again missed a potential game winner. In the second overtime, Damon Stoudamire nailed a game-tying 3-pointer with 4.6 ticks left, but Billups finally came through, nailing a step-back jumper with three-tenths of a second remaining to lift Detroit to a 106-104 win.
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QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
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"That's one of those types of games where it's great to be in. You have two teams - the former world champions and a team that's trying to come up and take it to another level. It wasn't the result we wanted. If you can take something from a loss, you can definitely take something from this one."
- Memphis' Damon Stoudamire, after the Grizzlies fell to the Pistons, 106-104 in two overtimes.
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STORYLINES OF THE NIGHT
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 1. Where's the D?
The Pistons and Grizzlies, two of the premier defensive units in the league, faced off in Memphis, and both eclipsed the century mark. The reason: two overtimes and countless big shots in a 106-104 Detroit win. Memphis was efficient on the offensive end, shooting 52 percent from the floor and racking up 54 points in the paint against the rough-and-tumble Pistons, anchored by Ben Wallace. Detroit's 106 points equal the most the Grizzlies have allowed this season, and marks only the third time Memphis has given up 100-plus.
 2. Roll on the Road
Even after a 92-90 triumph in Orlando, the Raptors still have a league-low five wins. "Any win for us right now is a nice win," forward Chris Bosh said. Know what else is nice? Four of Toronto's five wins have come this month, with all four of the December victories coming away from home. In fact, the Raptors and Jazz are the only two teams with more than half of their wins on the road despite playing the majority of their games at home.
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ROOKIE WATCH
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Raymond Felton filled in for Brevin Knight in the starting lineup for the second time this season, and for the second time, it led to a Charlotte win. Felton, the fifth overall pick in the 2005 draft, filled the statline to the tune of 14 points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals in the Bobcats' overtime victory over the Kings.
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COOL/CLUTCH PERFORMANCE
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With the game tied at the end of the fourth quarter, and again at the end of the first overtime, Chauncey Billups twice missed potential game-winning shots. But that didn't stop him from trying one more time. Billups hit a pull-up jumper with less than a second remaining to secure a 106-104 double-overtime victory over the Grizzlies.
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SIXTH MAN OF THE NIGHT
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After starting shooting guard Bonzi Wells went down with a first-quarter groin injury, Kevin Martin got a chance to show what he can do. The second-year Western Carolina product pumped in a career-best 19 points and added eight rebounds and three assists in 41 minutes, but it wasn't enough as the Kings lost to the host Bobcats, 106-103 in overtime.
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SCOREBOARD: Dec. 19, 2005 |
AROUND THE ASSOCIATION ARCHIVE
Chauncey hits the game-winning jumper in the second overtime.
