Lebron James scored a caeer-high 43 points in a 92-76 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

James was 15 of 22 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the free throw line, in 38 minutes of play.

Rip Hamilton led Detroit with 28 points.  The Pistons were without suspended center Ben Wallace and coach Larry Brown, who didn't travel with the team due to problems with his hip.  

The Pistons are sorely missing their defensive leader Ben Wallace, losing for the second consecutive night.  Antonio McDyess picked up some of the slack, grabbing an amazing 14 rebounds in just 30 minutes of play.

Lebron James was the story though in this game.  He is exceeding all expectations so far this year, as he has become one of the league's most productive players.

On Tuesday night in Charlotte, the Pistons were fighting back from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter and had forced another turnover, but inexplicably threw the ball away at the other end.

Rasheed Wallace, flung his headband across the court, in a sign of frustration.

Referee Tony Brothers gave Wallace a technical foul, and within two minutes, Wallace and Coach Gar Heard had been ejected by Brothers.

"They are saying now when you throw stuff toward the stands, it's a tech," Wallace said. "I questioned the man, since when? And he said it's always been like that.

"Of course, I know it hasn't been for the simple fact that Ben (Wallace) has done it a couple of times and I've done it a couple of times, and it wasn't called. I guess it stems from the stuff from the other day."

Except Wallace's headband landed in front of an auxiliary press table, not close to any fans.

With Ron Artest suspended for the rest of the season, Wallace feels as if now he might be Public Enemy No. 1 with officials, even though the former Tar Heel did so much on Friday night to keep all incidents from escalating.

Wallace fouled out of the game Sunday, even though the Pistons had only eight players, and he was tossed out Tuesday.

"With Artest out, I'm on the black list now," Wallace said. "I got the target back on my back. There was some crazy stuff going on out there. People think it's just me complaining, but Coach Gar was complaining, LB (Larry Brown) has complained, everybody is complaining. It's not just me, so maybe something really is wrong."

Heard, who received two quick technicals from Brothers and was ejected for picking up Wallace's argument, didn't want to comment.

"It will cost me a lot of money if I say something," he said.

Assistant Dave Hanners finished the game as head coach.

Wallace, who was calm throughout his postgame comments, believes things will turn around.

"I will have the last laugh," he said, "in June."

In both teams second games following the melee on Friday night, the Detroit Pistons lost to the Charlotte Bobcats and the Indiana Pacers defeated the Boston Celtics.

Charlotte played the Pistons tough on Sunday night, in the first game of a home and home, but ultimately were defeated in double overtime.  On Tuesday, the Bobcats got the better of the Pistons, winning 91-89.

The Pistons were missing Ben Wallace for a second consecutive game due to his suspension.

Emeka Okafor scored 22 points for the Bobcats.

Indiana defeated the Celtics 106-96.  Jamaal Tinsley led all  scorers with 29 points.  The Pacers must tread water for the 25 games Jermaine O'Neal will be suspended, attempting to stay above .500 in his and Stephen Jackson's absence.

The mystery man has been marked by his neighbor.

John Green of West Bloomfield Township was identified as the fan who threw the cup at Ron Artest, said David Gorcyca, the Oakland County prosecutor.

The Detroit Free Press reported late Monday that Green has several criminal convictions, including felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm. Green has three drunken-driving convictions, and Gorcyca also said a condition of Green's probation was that he not drink alcohol.

Asked if Artest could claim self-defense, Gorcyca said: "Even if someone did throw water, you don't have a license or a green light to punch them."

"I wish the whole thing didn't happen," Green said. "I'm sure the NBA players that got involved in it wish it never happened, the fans never wished that it had happened. I know I don't. It was awful, it was ugly."

Pistons chief executive Tom Wilson said Green is a season ticket-holder and will be banned from The Palace.

The suspensions of Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal infuriated the Pacers organization and prompted co-owner Herb Simon to issue a statement:

"While we do not condone some of the actions of the players involved, we do consider the action taken Sunday by the National Basketball Association to be unprecedented and inappropriate based on the circumstances. We believe that there was a rush to judgment and not enough opportunity to for all sides to be heard. We will vigorously support our players in an available appeal process to have these penalties reviewed and reduced. We owe that much to our players, our fans and our community."

Two days after of the three best players of the Indiana Pacers went into the stands at The Palace to fight unruly spectators, the Pistons were left to play a normal basketball game. They put it all behind them long enough to earn a 117-116 double-overtime victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

"With the playoff mob of media that we have here, you would think it's the Finals," Detroit's Lindsey Hunter said. "I'm already away from (Friday night). I'm not really thinking about it as much. I think everybody else is more than we are."

Tayshaun Prince's dunk with 16.5 seconds left lifted the short-handed Pistons in their first game since the melee that started on the court and got out of control in the seats.

Security was beefed up and there was a larger police presence at the arena, as well.

"I'm not really excited about doing my job right now," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "I heard one of our trainers say that it isn't much fun going to work, and I can honestly say the same thing."

David Harrison of the Indiana Pacers was hit several times in the stands while trying to break up the mayhem. He said Artest responded instinctively.

"If someone is throwing something at you with intent to harm you, you're going to defend yourself," he said. "It doesn't matter if the person is a fan or whatever. I just wonder what would happen if we went to where they work and harassed them for 48 minutes to an hour and then threw a beer at them when they were trying to leave. We'd go to jail."

Matters continued to be dangerous as the Pacers left the Palace.

"There was a time at the bus where they were telling us to turn off the lights because they were afraid people would shoot at our bus," Harrison said.

Harrison dismissed the notion that because the players are paid handsomely they should be able to deal with such situations.

"We endured the verbal abuse, did we not?" he said. "We do not get paid millions of dollars to get stuff thrown at us. Nobody gets paid to money to get stuff thrown at you unless you're a circus clown sitting in a booth. That's not our job."

According to research conducted by ESPN Sports Center, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal will lose a combined $12.8 million.

Assuming that none of the suspensions are reducted, Artest stands to lose $5.5 million, Jackson will lose $1.8 million and O'Neal will lose $4.5 million.

The NBA decided not to play any Detroit games in an arena, as was asked by a European reporter during David Stern's news conference.  It is often typical for soccer matches to be played in an empty stadium following fan behavior that was similar to what was witnessed by NBA fans on Friday night.

When Stern was asked by the reporter, he dodged the question, giving no serious answer to the serious question.

He also stated that the terms of beer sales would be readressed.

Sources have told Knicksology that Ron Artest will not play again this year. He has been suspended by the NBA for the remainder of the year, which will amount to 72 games.

Jermaine O'Neal will recieve a 25 game suspension.

Stephan Jackson will recieve a 30 game suspension.

Ben Wallace will recieve a 6 game suspension.

Anthony Johnson a 5 game suspension.

Elden Campbell a 1 game suspension.

Derrick Coleman a 1 game suspension.

Chauncy Billups a 1 game suspension.

Reggie Miller a 1 game suspension.

UPDATE from ESPN NEWS:

In a prepared statement Sunday, NBA Commissioner David Stern has said, "The penalties issued today deal only with one aspect of this incident -- that of player misconduct. The actions of the players involved wildly exceeded the professionalism and self control that should rarely be accepted from NBA players. We must ... not allow our sport to be debased by what seems to be declining expectations for behavior by fans and athletes alike."

Below is a collection of comments that were made regarding the Friday night incident in Detroit.

"You can't blame a player for reacting that way. You can't blame anybody. ... He was protecting himself. Nobody wants to be disrespected like that. You can say what you want as long as you don't put your hands on somebody else or touch him. You can't blame him." - Toronto Raptors guard Vince Carter defending Ron Artest.

"People are putting all the burden on (Ron) Artest, and I don't think that's fair. He's an easy target because of all the things he's been through. But some fans have gotten to a point where they think they can do or say anything. I think civility needs to try to make a comeback." - Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.

"We've seen this stuff happen before with Monica Seles and different things, and baseball. It's not just the NBA. What can we do with this? That's something that the league has to talk about and that's what society has to talk about." - Charlotte Bobcats guard Steve Smith.

"If you're a fan, and you step on the court, guys are going to come after you. I'm not saying the players did the right thing, but if you step on the court, then you are fair game. Players don't know if you're carrying a knife or something. You can hurt somebody." - Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

"I just think in the long run, no isolated incident is bigger than the game. The NBA will survive." - Orlando Magic forward Grant Hill.