Detroit Pistons 99-106 Los Angeles Lakers

The purple and gold again showed the whole league why they are the best blocking team this season by denying 20 shots by the Pistons at the Staples Center on Sunday. Eight came from Anthony Davis, six from JaVale McGee and five from Dwight Howard.

The Lakers having top rim-protecting-trio is just one of the major reasons behind Sunday's blocking feast. The Pistons' lack of command, especially of their starting-lineup, was also to blame. For the whole game, most of their players would drive towards the Lakers' basket without any hesitation after they got the ball. The only playmaker the team have, Derrick Rose, had to come off the bench and, by the way, dropped 28 points, the highest for the Pistons.

However, Detroit's efforts of continuously attack LA's rim paid off in the end via free throws. Detroit earned as many as 35 chances on the line and made 30 of them. Andre Drummond was 8-9 and Rose was 10-10. By contrast, LA only made 16 out of 23 free throws. It was their advantage on the free throw line plus their 11-26 of 3-pointers that helped Detroit narrow down the score difference constantly and once again the lead in the fourth quarter.

By contrast, the Lakers were totally lost from the 3-point line in the game. Not only were their 20 attempts the team's fewest this season, burying only six was also their second-worst record. When the purple and gold could not pose enough threat via 3-pointers, the opponents would close in more defensively, making it more difficult for the Lakers to enter the paint.

Despite the victory, Sunday's game cost the Lakers two important role players, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Avery Bradley - both of whom rolled their ankles. Though Pope returned in the second half, Bradley did not. The team said X-rays on Bradley's ankle were negative. "Hopefully he's not too bad. He felt like he could come back, but he was still limping. So we'll just see how he responds overnight and I'm sure we'll get more testing on it tomorrow," said Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.

New York Knicks 132-135 Los Angeles Clippers

Though the Clippers managed to defeat the visiting Knicks at home and watched three of their players put down 30+points – Paul George (32), Montrezl Harrell (34), Lou Williams (32) – the victory was not very convincing for good reasons.

First, even though Kawi Leonard sat on this game, it's still a shock for the Clippers to allow 132 points by the Knicks at home – it was the No. 14 Knicks that only scored 103.9 points (No. 29 of the league) per game with a 10-26 record. In both the first and the fourth quarters, the Knicks outscored the Clippers by double digits (45-29 in Q1 and 32-21 in Q4).

Second, the Clippers' starting unit is still a mess offensively. George became the only starting player who got over 10 points. The rest of them, Patrick Beverley, Maurice Harkless, Ivica Zubac and Patrick Patterson together had 18 points. By contrast, not only did Williams and Harrell continued to explode on the bench, even JaMychal Green dropped a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. It has already become a persistent ailment of the Clippers that they had to rely on their bench unit to score.

Though New York lost the game, they did one thing right: their most valuable trade asset, Marcus Morris, became the shiniest star on the court by putting down career-high 38 points. So far, there have been rumors that multiple teams are interested in introducing Morris for franchise improvement - and the Clippers are one of them. Perhaps his incredible performance on Sunday will further stimulate buyers to reach a deal with New York.

Other games on Sunday (home teams in bold):

Portland Trail Blazers 111-122 Miami Heat

Minnesota Timberwolves 118-103 Cleveland Cavaliers

Memphis Grizzlies 121-114 Phoenix Suns