Milwaukee remain the Eastern Conference's only unbeaten team

BUCKS 121, PISTONS 111

BUCKS 121, PISTONS 111

In Milwaukee, Sam Cassell scored 28 points as Milwaukee rallied from a 17-point deficit to remain the Eastern Conference's only unbeaten team.

The Bucks trailed 83-66 with 5:43 left in the third quarter before making an 18-3 run that cut Detroit's lead to 86-84 entering the fourth.

Glenn Robinson, hampered by foul trouble in the first half, scored seven points during the run and finished with 15. Ray Allen's 3-pointer with 7:16 to play gave Milwaukee a 97-94 lead.

Cassell, who had eight assists, then hit consecutive jumpers, and Allen, who had 23 points, added two more 3-pointers.

Jerry Stackhouse had 20 points for winless Detroit, which had six players in double figures.

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TRAIL BLAZERS 97, LAKERS 82

In Portland, Oregon, Scottie Pippen scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half in his first regular season game against Phil Jackson, his old coach with the Chicago Bulls. He finished with eight rebounds and five assists.

Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 21 points and 10 rebounds, but he was ejected with his second technical foul at 9:40 of the fourth quarter with the Blazers leading 77-70. The Lakers never got closer than seven points.

Arvydas Sabonis went on a tear as soon as O'Neal left the game. After Greg Anthony made the technical free throw, Sabonis scored Portland's next 11 points for an 89-72 lead with 4:45 remaining. He scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

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GRIZZLIES 109, NUGGETS 94

In Vancouver, British Columbia, Mike Bibby scored 17 points and added a franchise-record 16 assists for Vancouver.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 27 points and 10 rebounds while Bryant Rgton added 20 points, marking only the second time the Grizzlies had three players score 20 or more points in a game.

Ron Mercer was 11-of-17 from the field, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range, and scored 31 points for the Nuggets, who are 0-2 on the road this year and 4-60 on the road since the start of the 1997-98 season.

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SUPERSONICS 99, JAZZ 94

In Seattle, Gary Payton scored 22 points and Ruben Patterson added 21 as Seattle overcame a 17-point second-half deficit.

Karl Malone scored 31 points to become the fourth NBA player to score more than 29,000 points. He has 29,012 in his career, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), and Michael Jordan (29,277).

Bryon Russell scored 20 points off the bench for the Jazz.

Utah led 61-44 early in the third period, but the Sonics outscored the Jazz 30-10 to take a three-point lead entering the fourth.

With the Sonics up 95-94, Payton hit a turnaround jumper over Malone in the key to give Seattle a three-point lead with 1:05 left. Utah turned the ball over two of their last three possessions as the Sonics remained unbeaten in three games.

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TIMBERWOLVES 114, KINGS 101

In Tokyo, Kevin Garnett scored 31 points to lead Minnesota to a split of the two-game, season-opening series in Japan.

Garnett, who was 13-of-22 from the field, also grabbed 12 rebounds. He had 34 points in Minnesota's 100-95 loss Saturday.

Chris Webber led the Kings with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Garnett started the third quarter with a free throw, a dunk and a 3-pointer that put the Wolves ahead 67-63. He continued to dominate throughout the quarter, going 5-of-5 from the field and hitting all three of his free throws.

The Timberwolves used an 18-6 run at the start of the fourth quarter to take a 106-87 lead with 4:39 remaining.

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MAVERICKS 120, WARRIORS 97

In Oakland, California, Michael Finley scored 23 points and Cedric Ceballos had 22 to lead six Dallas players in double figures.

Dirk Nowitzki added 20 points for the Mavericks, while Erick Strickland had 19, Robert Pack 12 and Shawn Bradley had 10 to go with 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

It was the fourth straight loss in a home opener for the Warriors, who remained winless in three games this season.

Antawn Jamison and Chris Mills had 21 points apiece to lead the Warriors