Pistons blown away

The Detroit Pistons ended 2009 on a miserable note with their ninth straight defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls never trailed as they recorded a 98-87 success on the road, with Tyrus Thomas contributing 19 points and seven rebounds.

Aaron Brooks scored 30 points, including a crucial three-pointer with 95 seconds left, as the Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 97-94, Australian David Andersen contributing four points for the Texans.

A much more one-sided affair in Texas saw the San Antonio Spurs thrash the Miami Heat 108-78.

Tim Duncan scored 23 points and collected 10 rebounds as the Spurs won their fourth game in a row.

Nick Collison scored two free throws with 4.5 seconds remaining to give the Oklahoma City Thunder a dramatic 87-86 victory over the Utah Jazz, where Kevin Durant contributed 31 points to equal a 37-year-old franchise record of six consecutive 30 plus games, previously set by Spencer Haywood.

And in the decade's final game, the LA Clippers outscored the Philadelphia 76ers 55-37 in the second half to secure a 104-88 win.

The Clippers trailed by as much as 13 points during the first half as they played without regular coach Mike Dunleavy after he injured a herniated disc in his back leading into the game.

But with Tony Brown courtside, the Clippers pulled that back to a two-point deficit at half-time before going on with it in the second half.