In a match-up of two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat handled the Pistons, winning 89-78.  On the way, Wade recorded a triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

"It feels good to get my first triple-double in the NBA because I got it out of the way and it shows you're playing a team game," Wade said. "And, it feels good to beat the Pistons because I haven't done that in my young career."

"He's the best second-year pupil that I've had," Shaquille O'Neal said. "I've raised two great ones in my NBA lifetime and this guy is the best in his second year."

Chauncey Billups hit a 14-foot jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining Wednesday to give the Detroit Pistons a 107-105 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Billups and the Pistons overcame a 19-point first-half deficit and trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter.

Billups had a season-high 32 points.

The game was Washington's first sellout since last February.

Vince Carter debuted with the Nets scoring 23 points, but was unavailable for most of the overtime session.  The Nets ended up losing to the Pistons 100-90.

"I'm OK -- it just cramped up," he said. "I'll be fine as soon as I get some fluids into me."

The game was his first since he strained an Achilles' tendon in Toronto's 90-86 overtime loss to the Pistons on Dec. 8. He was traded to the Nets on Dec. 17.

"I guess this is twice here, but I'm sure the cramps would have happened anywhere," he said. "I played a lot of minutes in my first game back, and I guess I got dehydrated. I felt good until then, and my Achilles' is fine."

The boost of Jermaine O'Neal's return to the Pacers' line-up wasn't enough for them to follow their previous victory over the Pistons with one on Christmas Day, losing 98-93.

O'Neal scored 21 points for Indiana.

Rip Hamilton was the high-scorer with 25 points for the Pistons.

``It was just a regular game, everybody playing the way they play,'' Pistons center Ben Wallace said. ``It wasn't like we were out there intimidated, not wanting to touch anybody because it might start a fight. We were out there to play basketball, and that's the way it should be.''

The Pacers fell behind by 8 heading into the 4th quarter and the Detroit lead was too great for Indiana to comeback from.

The game was played without incident, a huge relief to both teams involved, who have already gone through so much, as well as to the league, who have been deeply concerned with their image.

Pick your poison for this Christmas day.  This year, both of the games in the NBA Christmas Classic will provide a bit more excitment to the viewer than mere athletic competition.

This Christmas, fans will be subject to the much anticipated rematch pitting The Indiana Pacers versus The Detroit Pistons and the long awaited match up between the feuding Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O?Neal.  

The Pacers-Pistons will play each other at 12:30 p.m. EST for the first time since the infamous brawl in Detroit that left many players involved trading in their uniforms for suits.

If that is not enough, the eager viewer may also tune into the 3:30 p.m. EST game pitting the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Miami Heat.  Many viewers are looking for something to happen between Shaq and Kobe.  The two have developed a feud that is one step from becoming a pay-per-view event at the Mirage Casino.  Never known as a big fan of television, former Lakers Coach Phil Jackson is even thinking about tuning in to this game.

"That's going to be interesting to see what Shaq does when Kobe tries to go to him more than anything else," Jackson said. "How is he going to defend the post if Kobe wants to drive it? Kobe likes to go in there and take contact. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

In a society in which many television viewers cannot get enough of watching other people?s problems, tomorrows games should provide them with a healthy dose of that good-old-fashioned drama.

The anticipated trade between Chicago and Detroit which would have sent point guard Frankie Williams to the Pistons in exchange for Smush Parker, Horace Jenkins and/or a second round draft pick (depending on which article you read) is apparently dead according to Chicago Sun-Times writer John Jackson.

It has been written that Chicago may pull out of the deal and save Williams, who is in the last year of his contract, as a filler in potential bigger trades down the road.  The Bulls' Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler both become restricted free agents this offseason and both have been subject to trade rumors.

Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Thursday for verbal abuse of an official, a day after he had to be restrained during a postgame argument with referee Anthony Jordan.

"The guy wouldn't talk to me during the game, and I can't understand that ? I wasn't being discourteous," Brown said after the game. "Well, maybe I was at the end, and I suppose I'll hear about that."

Larry Brown's frustrations are mounting and came to a head after the Bulls had beaten the Pistons, 89-82, Wednesday night.

Brown approached referee Anthony Jordan and spoke a few words and began to walkaway.

Jordan decided to make a response at that point. Whatever it was, Brown didn't care for it and he charged after him. He was restrained by assistant coach Gar Heard, among others.

"The guy wouldn't talk to me during the game," Brown said. "I can't understand that. I was not discourteous. I might have been at the end -- I am sure I will hear about it."

On a day when the Pistons learned that Jermaine O'Neal will be suiting against them on Christmas Day in Indiana, they were defeated by the surging Chicago Bulls by a final score of 89-82.

The Bulls had 6 players scoring in double figures.  Ben Gordon was their high-scorer with 19 points.  

The win in Detroit extended their win streak to 5 games.

In an interview with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," Detroit Pistons head coach Larry Brown admitted that he thought about not returning to the Pistons' bench.

Brown confessed that he's worried about the team's direction following the November 19th brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills as the Pistons continue hovering around the .500 mark.

Detroit has an 8-7 record since then, including a 6 game stretch during which C Ben Wallace was suspended.

Brown's son, a Pistons' ball boy, hasn't attended a home game since then.