Los Angeles Lakers 92, Houston Rockets 104: The Rockets have now won 22 straight, and the once pipedream-ish 33 is suddenly in sight. Kobe Bryant was only able to score 24 points on 33 shots against the stingy Houston D, and Rafer Alston took care of the rest, dropping 31 on LA to help keep the streak alive. Houston has Boston tonight, and if they get by that game they’ll have three straight on the road, all against team over .500 and competing for the playoffs. It’ll be a daunting task to get to 34, but I wouldn’t put much past them at this point.

New Orleans Hornets 84, Detroit Pistons 105: It’s not often you see a good Eastern Conference team rip a good Western Conference team, but such was the case on Sunday in Detroit. The Pistons were 14-21 from beyond the arch, led by Jarvis Hayes’ 7-8 effort from downtown, finishing with 29 points.

Charlotte Bobcats 91, Cleveland Cavaliers 98: BronBron had 33 points and 10 assists, and also grabbed seven boards in a winning effort. Charlotte, who looked like they were getting hot at one point a couple of weeks back, were led by J-Rich’s 33.

Dallas Mavericks 98, Miami Heat 73: Say hello to the first pick, Miami. Quesiton: Who do they draft? Do you take Beasley when you’ve already got two proven scorers? Whoever they take, they need help: The Heat shot less than 25 percent from beyond the arch, and only shot 40 percent from the field.

Atlanta Hawks 109, New York Knicks 98: When in doubt, play New York. With how badly the Hawks have been struggling, two of their last five wins have come against the dreadful Knicks. Joe Johnson scored 28, Marvin Williams 25, and Josh Childress 22. With the win, the Hawks have moved into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, where teams are just breaking their necks to try and not get into the playoffs.

Seattle Supersonics 118, Denver Nuggets 168: This isn’t a typo. The Nuggets scored 168 points, the highest of any team this season. It’s nice when a team’s able to get five players in double digit scoring; it’s even nicer when they get eight, as the Nuggets did last night, led by Melo’s 28.

Toronto Raptors 100, Sacramento Kings 106: What started out as “a few games,” has suddenly turned into nine straight games that Raptors All Star Chris Bosh has been gone. The Raptors have struggled, and are counting down the time until their star returns. Toronto is now 2-7 without Bosh.