Wall scores 29 as Wizards rally past the Pistons
Washington opens fourth quarter with a 17-4 run to turn back Detroit.
JOHN WALL scored 29 points and the Washington Wizards rallied past host Detroit in the fourth quarter, beating the Pistons, 106-99, last night.
Washington trailed, 87-78, before starting the final period with a 17-4 run. The Pistons never went back ahead.
Brandon Jennings had 15 points and 14 assists for Detroit, which has lost five of six.
Trevor Ariza scored 15 points for the Wizards, who also beat Detroit, 106-82, on Saturday in Washington.
Bradley Beal scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half for Washington.
In other games
* At Minneapolis, Shawn Marion scored 32 points and hit two huge three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Dallas Mavericks withstand a furious second-half charge from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 100-98 victory.
* At New Orleans, Tyreke Evans hit a pull-up jumper from 17 feet with 1.2 seconds left and the Pelicans beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-108. Jrue Holiday scored 15 of his season-high 31 points in the fourth quarter for New Orleans.
* At Memphis, Jimmy Butler scored 14 of his 26 points in the third quarter, Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Grizzlies, 95-91.
* At Denver, LeBron James returned from a groin injury to score 26 points on his 29th birthday, and the Miami Heat beat the skidding Nuggets 97-94 despite losing Dwyane Wade (back spasms) and Norris Cole (face) during the game. Ty Lawson had 26 points to lead the Nuggets.
* At Salt Lake City, Trey Burke barely beat the shot clock on a driving layup over Kemba Walker with 19 seconds left and scored 21 points to power the Utah Jazz past the Charlotte Bobcats, 83-80.
* At Los Angeles, Goran Dragic had 26 points and eight assists before sitting out the fourth quarter, Gerald Green added 21 points off the bench, and the Phoenix Suns routed the Clippers, 107-88.
Noteworthy
* Connie Dierking, a former University of Cincinnati star and longtime NBA player who was part of the trade that brought Wilt Chamberlain to Philadelphia, has died. He was 77.
Cincinnati's WKRC-TV, where his daughter Cammy Dierking is a news anchor, reported that Dierking fell in November. No other details were released immediately.
The Brooklyn-born Dierking played with Oscar Robertson for the Bearcats in 1957-58. He later teamed with Robertson and Jerry Lucas on the NBA's Cincinnati Royals.
Dierking averaged 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in his NBA career. He averaged a career-high 16.7 points in 1969-70 for the Royals.
The 6-10 center was a 1958 first-round pick of the Syracuse Nationals, who became the 76ers. In 1965, he was among three players traded to San Francisco to bring Chamberlain to Philadelphia, a move that helped the 76ers build an NBA champion. Dierking was later traded by the Warriors to the Royals.
* San Antonio guard Tony Parker apologized for a newly surfaced photograph that shows him making the same gesture with anti-Semitic connotations that French soccer star Nicolas Anelka displayed while celebrating a goal this weekend, creating an uproar in their home country.
The photograph shows Parker and a French comedian making a gesture known in France as a "quenelle," which critics describe as inverted Nazi salute. Parker said in a statement released through the Spurs that the photograph was taken 3 years ago and that he did not know at the time about the offensive nature of the gesture.
* Hawks center Al Horford will have season-ending surgery today to repair his torn right pectoral muscle, suffered last week.
* Lakers guard Xavier Henry will be out for at least a week after bruising his right knee during Sunday's loss to the Sixers.