Los Angeles - With one eye on the present and the other on the future, the New York Knicks made a bold move by unloading their top two scorers, Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, in separate trades.

The Knicks on Friday acquired forward Al Harrington from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for sharpshooting guard Crawford.

Just a few hours later, New York shipped starting forward Randolph and backup guard Mardy Collins out west to the bottom-feeding LA Clippers in exchange for guard Cuttino Mobley and forward Tim Thomas.

Los Angeles - Rajon Rondo picked the right time to snap out of scoring slump.

Rondo scored a season-high 18 points and handed out eight assists as the defending NBA Champion Celtics routed the visiting Pistons 98- 80 in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference finals.

In the previous four games, Rondo totaled just 13 points on an icy five-of 25 shooting. However, the speedy point guard connected on seven-of-11 shots, including a three-pointer, while managing to outscore Piston's hotshot Allen Iverson, 18-16.

"You never expect Rondo to outscore Iverson, but it's definitely a big plus on a night like this," said Celtics' leading scorer Paul Pierce, who finished with just nine points.

Los Angeles - The Detroit Pistons are the NBA's latest streak busters.

Allen Iverson scored 23 points, Rasheed Wallace had 21 with 15 rebounds, and the Pistons rallied to cool off the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak, 96-89 on Wednesday night.

After handing the Kobe Bryant-led LA Lakers their first loss of the season, 106-95 out west on the night of November 14, the Pistons returned home and claimed their second scalp by sending the LeBron James-led Cavaliers to their first defeat since the start of the month.

Los Angeles - Although Kevin Garnett missed the game on Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics seemed to be just fine without their emotional leader.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points and fan favourite Brian Scalabrine, filling in for the suspended Garnett, fired in a game-sealing three- pointer with just over a minute left to play as the Celtics held off the visiting New York Knicks 110-101.

Los Angeles  - The Detroit Pistons made sure the Los Angeles Lakers would not go undefeated this season.

Rasheed Wallace had 25 points with 13 rebounds, and Allen Iverson also scored 25 as the Pistons snapped the Lakers' seven-game winning streak, with a convincing
106-95 road victory on Friday night.

Iverson didn't put much stock in sending the Lakers to their first loss of the season.

Los Angeles - Seven proved to be a lucky number for the undefeated Los Angeles Lakers, but not for the previously unbeaten Atlanta Hawks.

Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher scored 20 points apiece, and Lakers held off the New Orleans Hornets 93-86 on Wednesday night, to become the only unblemished team left in the league.

Spain's Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum added 14 points apiece for the Lakers, whose 7-0 start matches their fastest since the 2001-02 season.

The Lakers built a 23-point cushion that was trimmed to 83-80. However, Bryant buried his only 3-pointer over closely-guarded James Posey with 1:08 remaining that doubled the score.

"I just wanted to shoot it in his face," Bryant said. "I knew I was due."