Iverson, Pistons hand Lakers 106-95 loss

LOS ANGELES(AP) Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Allen Iverson added 25 points and the Detroit Pistons handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss of the season, 106-95 Friday night.

Kobe Bryant scored 29 points for the Lakers, but went 12-of-30 from the floor.

The Lakers, who won their first seven and were outscoring opponents by an average of 18 points, had been the only team in the NBA without a defeat.

The Pistons have dominated the Lakers recently, going 8-2. Their defense on Bryant has been a key, with Detroit holding him to 20 or fewer points in five of the last nine meetings. He had 17 through the first three quarters in the latest loss, when the Pistons built a big lead.

The Pistons beat the Lakers in Los Angeles despite playing back to back games - Detroit won at Golden State the previous night.

Both Bryant and Iverson moved up on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Bryant has 21,817 points and jumped into 21st ahead of Larry Bird (21,791) and Gary Payton (21,813). Iverson (23,156) passed Elgin Baylor (23,149) to jump to No. 19.

Iverson was playing his fifth game since being traded from Denver to Detroit, and the Pistons are 3-2 since his arrival.

Tayshaun Prince added 18 points in Detroit's balanced scoring. Former Laker Kwame Brown had a double-double, with 10 rebounds and 10 points, and Richard Hamilton also scored 10.

Pau Gasol had 10 points and was the only Lakers' starter other than Bryant in double figures. Lamar Odom had 11 points and Trevor Ariza 10.

The Pistons moved in front to stay late in the first quarter, and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Detroit stretched the lead to 77-62 on Arron Afflalo's 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the third period. The Lakers pulled to 61-56 earlier in the quarter, but Prince made a reverse dunk and sank two free throws to help the Pistons stay in control.

Iverson had 14 points by halftime, Bryant had 13 and the Pistons were ahead 53-44 at the break.

Wallace had 13 for Detroit, including going 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Pistons went 23-of-41 from the floor in the first two quarters, while Los Angeles was just 19-of-46.

Prince added 11 first-half points for Detroit, and Gasol had 10 for the Lakers.

The Pistons held a 39-27 advantage 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter and Los Angeles got no closer than nine the rest of the period.

After Bryant scored on a high-above-the-rim lob from Gasol to give the Lakers their first lead at 14-12, Iverson closed out the first quarter with a steal off Bryant and a race downcourt to beat the buzzer. His running lob dropped through the hoop as time expired, putting Detroit up 23-16.

Iverson had 10 points in the opening quarter and Bryant led the Lakers with seven. The Pistons shot 58 percent from the floor and the Lakers shot just 32 percent.

Notes: Bryant, in his 13th season, was playing in his 874th game. Bird played in 897 games over his 13-year career. ... Iverson, who averaged 17 points in two losses in his first games with Detroit, scored 30 in a win over Sacramento and had 23 points and nine assists in a 107-102 win at Golden State on Thursday night. ... He had faced the Lakers once already this season, scoring 13 points on 3-for-8 shooting in a 104-97 loss, his final game for Denver.

To figure out how Allen Iverson’s fitting into Detroit, hear about Rasheed Wallace’s state of mind and talk about Friday night’s matchup between the Pistons and Lakers, we talked to Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois.

Click here to read more of Keith over at Pistons.com

The Los Angeles Lakers aren't merely the NBA's last undefeated team, they're the league's most dominant, winning by an average of 18 points each time they've taken the court.

To stay perfect, they'll have to beat the Detroit Pistons - a team they've been far from flawless against in recent years.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers will get their first look at Allen Iverson in a Pistons uniform Friday night at Staples Center, where they'll try to remain perfect against a Detroit club that's beaten them in seven of their last nine meetings.

Los Angeles seems eager to erase its final image from last season's playoffs, a 39-point blowout loss in Boston in Game 6 of the NBA finals. The Lakers (7-0) have been the ones delivering the lopsided results so far in 2008-09, averaging a league-high 104.7 points and yielding a league-low 86.7.

They've won their last two by just seven points apiece, but both victories came on the road against Western Conference playoff teams. Los Angeles jumped out to a 23-point third-quarter lead Wednesday before hanging on for a 93-86 victory at New Orleans to stay unbeaten.

"If at the end of the season it's like this then it would mean a lot,'' coach Phil Jackson said. "There have been a lot of teams that have gotten off to good starts and it doesn't mean they have a great finish, but this is what we want to do and we're doing the right thing."

The Lakers have been even more impressive at home, winning by an average of 22.3 points. Recently, though, they've struggled regardless of where they've played Detroit. Los Angeles has won just twice in its last nine meetings with the Pistons, losing by an average of 7.7 points.

The key for Detroit has been containing Bryant. The reigning NBA MVP has been held to 20 points or fewer in five of his last eight games versus the Pistons.

Bryant is averaging 24.1 points this season - still among the top 10 in the league - but his teammates have provided more consistent offense. Seven Lakers average at least 8.4 points, including previously little-used reserve Trevor Ariza, who's scoring 10.0 ppg in 22.4 minutes after coming back from a broken right foot.

Los Angeles hasn't had a lot of success against Detroit in the past five years, and now there's a former league MVP to worry about defending.

Iverson wasn't great in his first two games with the Pistons (6-2) after coming over in a trade with Denver, averaging 17.0 points in a pair of losses. Since Detroit started its four-game Western road trip, though, Iverson has picked up his game. He scored 30 Tuesday in a win over Sacramento, then totaled 23 points and nine assists Thursday in a 107-102 win at Golden State.

"The best part about it is we struggled at times in the game but we got it done,'' Iverson said. "We're going into the next game with some confidence. It's going to be a good measuring stick for us.''

The Pistons and Lakers haven't played this season, but Iverson has already faced Los Angeles. He went just 3-of-8 for 13 points in his last game with the Nuggets, a 104-97 Los Angeles win on Nov. 1.

Tayshaun Prince has been Detroit's go-to scorer lately against Los Angeles, averaging 21.5 points in his last eight games in the series.

Prince is averaging team highs of 21.0 ppg and 11.0 rebounds in his last five contests this season.

Guard Rodney Stuckey is expected to return for Detroit after missing two games due to dizziness.

The Lakers split last season’s series with the Pistons 1-1, after dropping last season’s series with the Pistons 0-2 and splitting 1-1 in 2005-06. This will be the 197th meeting between the Pistons and Lakers with Los Angeles holding a 128-68 advantage. The Lakers are 3-7 in their last 10 overall contests with Detroit. The Lakers are 7-2 all-time against the Pistons at STAPLES Center and have gone 8-2 in their last 10 home meetings. In Detroit, the Lakers have lost their last six regular season games in a row to the Pistons after winning nine straight regular season games in Detroit from 1993- 2002. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 10-6 against Detroit (1-4 against the Pistons in the postseason (2004 NBA Finals)). In 21 career games including 17 starts against the Pistons, Kobe Bryant is averaging 22.2 points with a personal high of 40 established March 4, 2006 at STAPLES Center. On 2/8/07, the Lakers were held to a series low 78 points in Detroit, breaking the old mark of 81 points established 2/10/05 at Detroit. As a member of the Denver Nuggets, newly acquired Pistons guard Allen Iverson scored a Nuggets/Lakers series-high 51 points against the Lakers last season on 12/14/07 at Pepsi Center. The Lakers and Pistons have met five times in the postseason since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, six including their time in Minneapolis, with the Lakers going 4-2 in those meetings but just 1-2 in NBA Finals.

The Detroit Pistons have recorded the third-most wins in the NBA since 2003-04.  They averaged 57 wins per season during that span.  The Pistons are currently in transition as they try to maintain some of their old nucleus while developing their young/bench players.  With the trade of Billups for Iverson they went from a point who got others involved to one who looks for himself first and will get others involved once he is double-teamed.