AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons are starting to show their potential with Allen Iverson, beating two of the NBA's best teams in less than a week.

Iverson scored 23 points, and Rasheed Wallace had 10 of his 21 points during a fourth-quarter surge that gave Detroit a 96-89 victory over Cleveland last night that ended the Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak.

Detroit handed the Los Angeles Lakers their only defeat, beating them by double digits Friday night on the road.

"It's early, but it's exciting," Iverson said.

Wallace wouldn't go that far.

"It's not like we set out and said, 'Oh, these are the NBA's hottest teams.' We're just trying to make ourselves better," said Wallace, who had a season-high 15 rebounds. "We really don't care about what the other teams are doing at that moment.

"We just want to make ourselves better for June."

If the Pistons can keep playing tough defense against stars, as they did against LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, they'll improve their chances in the playoffs.

James was 8 of 21 and missed all four of his 3-point attempts, but made enough free throws to finish with 25 points to fall just five below his league-leading average.

"That happens in this league," he said. "You have good games and bad games."

Bryant missed 18 of 30 shots last week against the Pistons.

The Cavs are a half-game ahead of the Pistons in the Central Division.

Detroit lost its first two games after acquiring Iverson from Denver on Nov. 3, but has won four of its last five.

"It's way too early to know anything about them," James said.

It looked as if the Cavs were going to beat Detroit the first time they saw them with Iverson, going on a 21-6 run to take the lead in the first quarter and taking 13-point leads in both the second and third.

But Wallace gave the Pistons the lead for good midway through the fourth with a pair of 3-pointers in a 36-second span and made another long jumper to give them a 95-82 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left.

RAPTORS 101, HEAT 95

MIAMI — Andrea Bargnani scored a season-high 25 points, Jermaine O'Neal added 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Toronto beat Miami for the second time in four days despite a huge night by Dwyane Wade, who had season highs of 40 points and 11 assists for the Heat.

After Wade's dunk gave the Heat an 84-83 lead with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter, Anthony Parker hit a 3-pointer and the Raptors never trailed again.

T-WOLVES 102, 76ERS 96

MINNEAPOLIS — Al Jefferson scored six of his 25 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to help Minnesota defeat Philadelphia and snap an eight-game losing streak with its first victory since beating Sacramento in its season opener.

Six of Minnesota's defeats came by six points or fewer and with the Timberwolves ahead at some point in the fourth quarter.

MAVS 96, ROCKETS 86

HOUSTON — Jason Terry scored 31 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Dallas won its third in a row, beating Houston, which played without its top scorer Yao Ming, who sat out because of a sore left foot.

Josh Howard, the Mavs' second-leading scorer, was inactive because of a left ankle injury.

KINGS 105, HORNETS 96

NEW ORLEANS — John Salmons scored 29 points and Bobby Jackson had all eight of his points in the final 5:10 as Sacramento, playing without leading scorer Kevin Martin, who missed his sixth consecutive game because of a sprained ankle, held off New Orleans.

Jackson hit a 3-pointer to give the Kings the lead for good at 90-88. He followed with a baseline jumper and a steal that led to Salmons' layup, then finished off the Hornets with another 3-pointer that made it 99-91 with 3:08 left.

CLIPPERS 108, THUNDER 88

OKLAHOMA CITY — Chris Kaman scored a season-high 25 points and added 14 rebounds, and Cuttino Mobley scored a season-high 23 points as Los Angeles, trailing 52-49 at the break, opened the second half with a 20-10 run and never trailed again in beating Oklahoma City.

Mobley added a career-high seven steals for the Clippers, who outscored the Thunder 30-16 in the third period.

HAWKS 91, WIZARDS 87

ATLANTA — Mike Bibby scored 25 points and Marvin Williams added 21, including the go-ahead 3-pointer for an 89-87 lead with 26 seconds left, to help Atlanta beat Washington and snap a four-game losing streak.

DeShawn Stevenson sank a fallaway jumper with 1:32 left and then added another shot from the corner less than 30 seconds later to give the Wizards an 87-83 lead.

JAZZ 105, BUCKS 94

SALT LAKE CITY — C.J. Miles scored a season-high 25 points, Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 11 rebounds before leaving because of a strained quadriceps, and Utah rallied to beat Milwaukee.

Andrei Kirilenko, who had to play point guard at times, had 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four blocks to help the Jazz improve to 5-0 at home.

NUGGETS 91, SPURS 81

SAN ANTONIO — Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, Carmelo Anthony added 21 and surging Denver cruised past San Antonio.

Kenyon Martin added 18 points and Nene had 16 for the Nuggets, who have won four straight and improved to 5-1 since Billups joined the lineup following a trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit.

BLAZERS 116, BULLS 74

PORTLAND, Ore. — Greg Oden had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in his home debut as Portland built a 30-point, first-half lead in rolling past Chicago.

Oden, sidelined all of last season by a knee injury after being drafted first overall, had his third double-double in four games after missing six of the first seven games because of a foot injury.

NOTES

Bobcats: Charlotte waived little-used forwards Andre Brown and Linton Johnson and were on the verge of signing center Dwayne Jones, who has played 74 games for Cleveland and Boston, and had been playing overseas. The Bobcats were also one of several teams pursuing forward Antonio McDyess, who was waived by Denver last week.