The Associated Press

BOSTON - The New Orleans Hornets relied on Baron Davis and one of their best defensive performances of the season to snap a four-game road losing streak.

Davis had 29 points and 10 assists to lead New Orleans past the Boston Celtics 96-94 Wednesday.

P.J. Brown added 15 points and 14 rebounds as New Orleans improved to 3-0 against Boston this season.

The Celtics' Paul Pierce scored 14 points on 4-of-16 shooting. He was 1-for-10 in the first half and attempted just six shots in the second. Ricky Davis scored eight points on 3-for-12 shooting.

"(David) Wesley did a great job on Ricky Davis, and the combination of George (Lynch) and Stacey (Augmon) stopping Pierce was terrific," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said. "After losing four in a row on the road, we needed this victory."

The Celtics chose to spin the loss another way.

"Even the great ones struggle and have tough nights," Celtics guard Mike James said. "Other guys have to be ready to pick up the slack."

Ricky Davis' 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left cut Boston's deficit to two points, and the Celtics forced the Hornets to throw away the ensuing inbounds pass. But George Lynch stole Jiri Welsch's entry pass to seal the win.

"We hung around today," Celtics center Chris Mihm said. "We had our chances and that's what's discouraging."

Pistons 78, Trail Blazers 71

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Chauncey Billups scored 22 points and Ben Wallace added 10 points and 15 rebounds to help Detroit to its third straight victory.

Portland, which set a season low for points, dropped to 1-11 on the road despite 17 points from Rasheed Wallace and 16 points and 14 rebounds from Zach Randolph.

LAKERS: Karl Malone is probably headed to the injured list for the first time in his 19-year career. Coach Phil Jackson said a decision would probably be made Friday night in Seattle before the Lakers face the SuperSonics.

Malone, the NBA's second-leading career scorer behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee Dec. 21.

"It's a downer," Malone said. "You want to be with the guys. The main thing for me to do is all the things I need to do to get better."

• Shaquille O'Neal is likely to be fined as punishment for not informing the team he was missing practice Wednesday.

Jackson said O'Neal "had some back problems." The player was hurt in practice Tuesday, but Jackson said it wasn't a practice-related activity. He expects O'Neal to travel to Seattle with the team today.

CLIPPERS: The team activated center Predrag Drobjnak and put Olden Polynice on the injured list.

Drobjnak, who went on the injured list Dec. 19 because of back spasms, is averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds this season. Polynice, on the injured list for the third time because of a neck strain, played in two games without scoring.