Lawrence Frank found yet another way to guide the New Jersey Nets to victory.

To improve to 8-0 as a head coach, Frank used a red-faced tirade to get the Nets going after they fell behind by 13 points in the first quarter of an 89-78 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night for their ninth straight win overall.

``That's probably the most angry I've seen him,'' starting center Aaron Williams said. ``You have to do that sometimes. We weren't playing the way we were supposed to play. That's his job.''

Frank yelled at the Nets after the first quarter, when they had their largest deficit since the 33-year-old coach replaced Byron Scott more than two weeks ago.

Frank's 8-0 start is tied for the second-best in NBA history with Pistons coach Larry Brown. It's one shy of the mark for best coaching start shared by Kurt Rambis (Los Angeles Lakers, 1998-99) and Buddy Jeannette (Baltimore Bullets, 1947-48).

``He doesn't care about that,'' said Jason Kidd, who had 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. ``He wants to win. He doesn't care about going undefeated. He wants to win every time we go on the floor.''

In other NBA games, it was: L.A. Lakers 98, Miami 83; Sacramento 124, Milwaukee 117; Minnesota 96, L.A. Clippers 84; Indiana 103, Chicago 84; Dallas 105, New York 90; Utah 86, Portland 81; Toronto 101, Phoenix 94; and Golden State 106, Seattle 97.

The Nets finally got some stops on defense and got their transition game going midway through the second quarter. New Jersey closed the quarter with a 14-0 run and took a 46-42 lead. Detroit missed its final 10 shots.

Richard Jefferson, who had 27 points and 10 rebounds, was outstanding in the run. He scored eight points and ignited the run with an alley-oop lay-in from a pass from Keynon Martin that might have been offensive goaltending.

Martin had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Kerry Kittles added 17 points as the Nets posted their ninth straight double-digit win and sent the Pistons to their fourth straight loss.

``We're just flat-out not getting it done,'' said Pistons All-Star Ben Wallace, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds. ``We came out in the first quarter and played pretty decent. After that, everything was downhill.''

Chauncey Billups had 23 points and Richard Hamilton added 19 for Detroit.

Lakers 98, Heat 83

At Miami, Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and reserve Derek Fisher scored eight of his season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, helping Los Angeles post consecutive wins for the first time since mid-January.

Dwyane Wade had 19 points for Miami, which dropped its fifth straight.

The Lakers were again without All-Star guard Kobe Bryant, who missed his seventh game because of a lacerated right index finger.

Timberwolves 96, Clippers 84

At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 14 points and nine rebounds in the first quarter and finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds to lead Minnesota.

Gary Trent scored 15 points, Sam Cassell, who went scoreless until making back-to-back jumpers midway through the third quarter, had eight points and 12 assists.

Corey Maggette had a season-high 34 points for the Clippers, who lost their third straight.

Kings 124, Bucks 117

At Milwaukee, Peja Stojakovic scored 31 points and sank all four of his free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Sacramento hold off the Bucks.

Mike Bibby scored 24 points, and Brad Miller 21 for the Kings. Desmond Mason and Toni Kukoc each scored 21 off the bench for Milwaukee.

Mavericks 105, Knicks 90

At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Michael Finley added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the surging Mavericks, who stopped New York's season-high five-game winning streak.

Rookie Josh Howard had 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Dallas, which won for the 13th time 16 games.

For the Knicks, Stephon Marbury had 24 points and 11 assists, and Keith Van Horn added 20 points and nine rebounds.

Pacers 103, Bulls 84

At Chicago, Ron Artest scored 26 points against his former team and Indiana rolled to its league-high 39th win.

Jermaine O'Neal added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, which doesn't play again before this weekend's All-Star game.

Chicago, coming off a 1-6 road trip, got its fifth straight game of 20 points or more from Eddy Curry, who finished with 23.

Jazz 86, Trail Blazers 81

At Portland, Ore., Carlos Arroyo scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Utah held off Portland in the Trail Blazers' first game since trading forward Rasheed Wallace, who was traded to Atlanta Monday night.

Andrei Kirilenko added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz, who won their second straight after a four-game losing streak.

Derek Anderson led the Blazers with 21 points, while Darius Miles had 19.

Warriors 106, SuperSonics 97

At Seattle, Jason Richardson had 22 points and Brian Cardinal added 20, and Golden State rebounded from an NBA record-tying two-point quarter two days ago with its sixth road win of the season.

Clifford Robinson had 18 points, Speedy Claxton added 17 and Erick Dampier pulled down 12 rebounds for Golden State.

Rashard Lewis led the Sonics with 20 points.

Raptors 101, Suns 94

At Phoenix, Vince Carter scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half and Morris Peterson matched his career high with seven 3-pointers to lead Toronto.

Peterson was 7-for-11 from 3-point range for a season-high 27 points.

Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points and Joe Johnson 19 for the Suns, who have lost four in a row _ all at home _ and 10 of 12.