The Basketball Diaries - Luuuuuuuu!!!!

Chicago Bulls 105, Washington Wizard 90

With trade rumors finally history, Luol Deng skipped the thank-you note to John Paxson and went instead with a 13-of-22 shooting and 11 rebound night, giving the Bulls their third straight post All-Star break win. Kirk Hinrich added 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, offsetting a one-man Wizard scoring machine, Gilbert Arenas. "Luol Deng canceled me out," Arenas said, who scored 36 points and had 18 straight points for Washington in the second half. "He played great, shot the ball well inside and outside... It was like everything they put up, they scored -- from Kirk Hinrich to Luol Deng." Agent Zero got Washington within four in the final quarter, but then the Bulls took off and never looked back.

Detroit Pistons 94, Orlando Magic 89

Orlando outscored Detroit 44-22 in the paint and outshot the Pistons 47 percent to 39 percent but they were no match for the "Flip Out." Down five points in the third quarter, Pistons coach Flip Saunders played rodeo clown with the refs, screaming, gesticulationg wildly and earning himself a technical. But there was a method to the madness cuz he also earned the attention of his team. "I think that kind of sparked us, sparked our team and put it into second gear for us," Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said. "Sometimes it can be a downfall but I think tonight it was a perfect situation." It was all the jolt they needed to pull ahead deliever Orlando's third loss in a row, moving ther Magic two games under .500 at 27-29.

Utah Jazz 114, Denver Nuggets 104

Despite the fact Carlos Boozer only played the first quarter, and two of their other starters were injured - Center Mehmet Okur out with back spasms and forward Andrei Kirilenko leaving the game with a bruised knee in the first half - the Jazz had its way with a disorganized Denver team, still vainly in search of some chemistry between AI and Melo. "I felt good," said Boozer, who scored 10 points in his cameo appearance after returning to the lineup from a hairline fracture in his left leg. "We want to take it slowly to make sure everything is strong and going in the right direction. I felt good in the 12 minutes I was out there." Anthony led the Nuggets with 36 points but it was cold comfort to Anthony: "We don't have no chemistry right now. We're just trying to get everybody on the same page. It seems like everybody's in their own world right now. The chemistry off the court is very great, I can tell you that. That's why I don't understand why the chemistry on the court is not as great."