Los Angeles  - With the game on the line, Paul Pierce had the ball and the Boston Celtics star didn't have to think twice about what he was going to do with it.

Pierce hit Ray Allen for the game-winning three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting the Celtics to a dramatic 111-109 home-court victory over the pesky Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

"When you have one of the greatest shooters to ever play the game it's a no-brainer," said Pierce, who finished with a game-high 32 points. "I'll proclaim Ray the greatest shooter that I've ever seen in the history of the NBA. You have to talk about guys that have done it crucial situations and Ray has done it."

Los Angeles  - The Los Angeles Lakers didn't have much difficulty remembering their recent visits to Detroit - and even less trouble reversing those fortunes.

Kobe Bryant scored 30 points Thursday night, and the Lakers closed the third quarter on a decisive 20-0 run to pull away from the short-handed Detroit Pistons for a 92-77 victory.

"It feels good to finally walk out of here with a win," said reigning league MVP Bryant, who added eight rebounds and seven assists.

Los Angeles  - LeBron James took care of the offence, and the Cleveland Cavaliers took care of the ball.

James scored six of his 26 points in overtime, to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his seventh triple-double of the season, leading the Cavaliers past the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 97-92 on Thursday night.

The Cavaliers improved the NBA's best-mark to 55-13 and 31-1 at home with their seventh straight victory, en route to tying a league-record for fewest turnovers in a game with two.

Taipei - Two NBA teams will visit Taiwan and China in October to play warm-up games before the start of the NBA season, a newspaper said Thursday.

The Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers will play a preseason game on October 8 at the Taipei Arena. Taiwan's basketball association next month will announce details of the game, the Apple Daily quoted an unnamed sports official as saying.

The two teams will send a total of 30 players, including Denver forward Carmelo Anthony, Indiana forward Danny Granger and NBA legend Larry Bird, now the Pacers' president of basketball operations.

Los Angeles - The Houston Rockets turned a big loss into a huge win.

Ron Artest scored all 18 of his points in the second half, and the Rockets overcame the absence of flu-ridden Yao Ming to beat the New Orleans Hornets 95-84 on Monday night.

"I can't say enough about the win, we got a lot of contributions from a lot of different people," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "It's a big road win against a team that's right next to us in the standings."

Los Angeles  - Mark Cuban may legally own the Dallas Mavericks, but the Lakers own them in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant tossed in 28 points, Trevor Ariza had a career-high 26, and the Lakers regrouped after blowing a big lead to continue their home court mastery over the Mavericks with a 107-100 victory on Sunday.

"We match up well with them," said Bryant after the Lakers closed on an 18-5 run and improved to an astonishing 33-3 home mark over the Mavericks since 1991.

If the play-offs began today, the top-seeded Lakers and eighth- seeded Mavericks (40-27) would meet in the first round.