NBA Monday Review ESPNSTAR

It was a busy night for the Detroit Pistons on Monday - hours after dealing a trio of players - including guard Chauncey Billups.
Richard Hamilton scored 19 points as the Pistons won their third straight game to start the season with a 101-83 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats and former head coach Larry Brown.

Detroit set in motion a major overhaul of its roster Monday afternoon, acquiring nine-time All-Star Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets for Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.

Iverson is expected to be in uniform Wednesday night in Toronto upon the completion of a physical Tuesday in Detroit.

The Pistons used a balanced scoring attack to remain undefeated, with Hamilton leading six players in double figures.

Detroit built a 12-point edge in the first quarter, 23-12, after a basket from Amir Johnson with 1:14 to play and trailed for a total of just 78 seconds in the game.

For the second straight game, the Philadelphia 76ers built a 20-point first half lead. This time they were able to keep it as they picked up their second straight home win with a 125-91 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

On Saturday, Philadelphia led by as much as 23 points in the first half only to see Atlanta rally for a 95-88 win. Thanks to Thaddues Young and Lou Williams, Philadelphia made sure the outcome was never in doubt on Monday.

Williams finished with 17 and Willie Green came off the bench to score 16 points for the Sixers.

Kevin Martin had 14 points for the Kings who dropped all four games in their season-opening road trip.

Marc Gasol scored 27 points to lead three players in double figures as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped their seven-game losing streak against the Golden State Warriors with a 90-79 victory.

Gasol, a rookie centre and the brother of Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, added a team-high 16 rebounds for Memphis, which limited Golden State to just 12 fourth-quarter points.

What looked like a showdown bound to go down to the wire turned into a blowout, as the Cleveland Cavaliers exploded at just the right moment, when the Dallas Mavericks went ice cold, coming away with a 100-81 victory on the road.

With the Cavaliers nursing a one-point lead late in the third, LeBron James' driving layup and subsequent free throw sparked a 20-2 run that put the game out of reach with plenty of time to spare. James, who posted 29 points and eight boards, enforced his will on Dallas' defence, drawing contact all night and finishing 13-of-15 from the foul line.

Once the final period rolled around, he let his re-tooled supporting cast take over. Mo Williams, acquired in an offseason trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, opened up the fourth with a pair of pull-up jumpers and capped Cleveland's surge with a 3-pointer to give his new team an 85-68 lead that proved to be insurmountable.

Dwight Howard registered his fourth straight double-double, collecting 22 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Orlando Magic to a 96-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Even with another dominant showing from their franchise centre, the Magic had to hold off a late surge by the Bulls, who staged a 9-0 run to pull to within a point. Rookie point guard Derrick Rose hit an off-balance runner from the baseline that rattled in to cut Chicago's deficit to 93-90 and Ben Gordon followed moments later with a short jumper to make it 93-92.

However, Rashard Lewis knocked down 3-of-4 free throws to help ice the victory. He finished with 21 points and 11 boards.

Paul Millsap scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time in three days, posting an 89-73 victory.

Mehmet Okur scored 16 and Andrei Kirilenko added 15 and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who recorded a 101-79 triumph at home Saturday.

Baron Davis and Marcus Camby both returned from injury and came off the bench for the Clippers (0-4), who are still searching for their first win. Chris Kaman had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Los Angeles and Davis had 14 and nine assists.