Kobe Bryant & Rasheed Wallace

Chauncey Billups & Rajon Rondo

In Friday night’s double header, the two teams that are slated to meet in next year’s NBA Finals both suffered losses to newly revamped teams. The Los Angeles Lakers were handed their first loss of the season by the Detroit Pistons who recently acquired All-Star Allen Iverson in a trade deal that sent 3 of the Piston’s players including Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets. Ironically it was the Denver Nuggets that served the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, their second loss of the season.

Here’s a brief recap of both games:

Pistons vs. Lakers


The new-look Detroit Pistons still have the Los Angeles Lakers’ number. Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Allen Iverson added 25 points and the Pistons handed the Lakers their first loss of the season, 106-95 Friday night. The win was the Pistons’ eighth in the last 10 meetings. Kobe Bryant scored 29 points for the Lakers, but went 12-of-30 from the floor. “We just played a good all-around game,” Iverson said after the Pistons won for the third time since his arrival from Denver five games ago. (Source)
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Nuggets vs. Celtics


Since his trade to the Denver Nuggets, Chauncey Billups has done something customary for him. Win. The Nuggets are 4-1 since Billups’ arrived after a Nov. 3 trade with the Pistons. And on Friday night, the Nuggets added a statement game to their resume, beating the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 94-85. “It’s a huge win,” said Billups, who scored 18 points and had seven assists. “This kind of atmosphere is one of the best you can play in. (Source)


For the full run, click here.

The Pistons and Celtics were definitely getting their basketball on…BALLIN!