Hill’s Injury Helps Nelson Win 900th

There won’t be an asterisk in the record book to denote Don Nelson’s 900th victory.

Still, beating the Detroit Pistons without Grant Hill was a lot easier than doing it with the superstar forward in the lineup.

The Dallas Mavericks took advantage of Hill’s absence and made Nelson the sixth NBA coach to reach 900 victories as they beat the Pistons, 99-91, Sunday night at Auburn Hills, Mich.

“I’m just glad I won’t have to talk about it any more,” Nelson said with a smile. “The thing I’m happiest about is that it was won the way games are supposed to be won. I’m only going to remember that everyone played hard for us, we changed strategies and made adjustments and then we found a way to win it in the end.”

The Mavericks also were short-handed with Gary Trent on the bench because of a strained groin. They made up for it with a balanced attack, led by 22 points from Cedric Ceballos and 18 from Michael Finley. Ceballos and Finley also pulled down 10 rebounds each.

“That’s the way this team plays--we go to whoever is hot at the time,” Ceballos said. “And we love winning. Yesterday, after the New Jersey loss, everyone was quiet. The room was quiet, the bus was quiet and the plane was quiet. But the nice thing about this league is that you can come right back and get it off your back. That’s what we did tonight.”

Hill sat out because of a bruised hip and back suffered Saturday in Chicago. He is not expected to play again until at least Thursday. Jerry Stackhouse led all scorers with a season-high 36, but Jud Buechler was the next highest with a season-high 12.

Detroit had defeated Dallas seven straight times.

Houston 101, Miami 88--Matt Bullard scored a season-high 24 points and led a three-point barrage at Houston as the Rockets extended their winning streak to six games with a victory over the Heat.

The Rockets made 15 of 31 three-pointers. Their previous season high was 13 of 32 on Nov. 20 at Seattle.

Toronto 94, Seattle 77--Tracy McGrady and Antonio Davis each had 17 points and 11 rebounds at Toronto as the Raptors ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over the SuperSonics.

Vince Carter, who scored 13 points in 25 minutes, got into third-quarter foul trouble and didn’t play in the fourth for Toronto, which had lost five straight to Seattle.

Minnesota 99, Golden State 81--Terrell Brandon, who missed three games because of a strained right calf, scored 15 points and had nine assists at Oakland as the Timberwolves set a team record with their fifth straight road win.

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, which has won nine of its last 10 road games. Before the recent success, the Timberwolves had lost 17 of 18 away from home in a stretch that began last season.