John Henson cracked a smile as he headed down the court after his desperate turnaround splashed through the net. It was that kind of night for Milwaukee. Henson had 25 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots, and the Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 78-74 on Tuesday in a matchup of slumping teams racked by injuries. As a young team, a scrappy team out here, that's what we got to do.'' Brandon Knight added 19 points and 10 boards for Milwaukee, which had dropped three of four.

For Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, seeing Deron Williams back far outweighed seeing the Celtics again. Williams scored a season-high 25 points in his return to the lineup, Brook Lopez added 24, and the Brooklyn Nets beat Boston 104-96 Tuesday night in the first matchup for Pierce and Garnett against their former team. But the key was Williams, who had missed nine straight games and 11 overall with a sprained left ankle, and hadn't been sharp in the games in which he did appear. ''I mean he's one of the most important pieces of what we're trying to do here, what we're trying to build and trying to win a championship.'' The Nets won consecutive games for the first time this season, a stunning stat for a team that considered itself a championship contender after acquiring Pierce and Garnett in a blockbuster that was agreed to on draft night.

Roy Hibbert threw all the inside body jabs Tuesday night. Paul George finished it off with the knockout blow. Together, the Pacers' devastating one-two scoring punch did it again to the champs. Hibbert finished with 24 points, George made two big 3-pointers during a 15-point second half scoring spree and Indiana rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take Round 1 against Miami 90-84.

The Detroit Pistons are building their franchise around a talented frontcourt. On Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves gave them some tips on how that's done. Kevin Love had 26 points and 16 rebounds, while Corey Brewer and Nikola Pekovic combined for 29 points as the Timberwolves routed the Pistons 121-94. The Timberwolves didn't dominate inside, matching Detroit's 44 points in the paint, but the Pistons struggle to win games if they don't have a major advantage in the post.

Kevin Durant scored 30 points. Dominating at both ends of the court, Durant led the Oklahoma City Thunder to their 11th win in 12 games, holding off the Atlanta Hawks 101-92 Tuesday night. Shelvin Mack scored a career-high 17 points off the bench to lead an Atlanta comeback that had the sparse crowd roaring. He also had 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal, helping limit Atlanta to just 36 percent shooting.

Tony Parker praised ''the usual guys'' on San Antonio's bench for their role in beating the Toronto Raptors, then singled out Australian big man Aron Baynes for special attention. Baynes scored a career-high 14 points, Manu Ginobili had 16 and the Spurs beat the Raptors 116-103 on Tuesday night. Jeff Ayers made the first start of his Spurs career in place of injured center Tiago Splitter, but it was Baynes whose contribution proved most vital to San Antonio's sixth straight victory against Toronto.

His arms folded across his chest, New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson watched helplessly as three Cleveland players streaked past him on the way to an uncontested layup. Right now, he can't do much about his sinking Knicks either. Kyrie Irving had 37 points and 11 assists and Jarrett Jack added 17 points, leading the Cavs to a 109-94 victory over the hard-to-figure Knicks on Tuesday night. Fresh off an embarrassing 41-point loss at home to Boston on Sunday, New York dropped to 5-15 and made Woodson's future even more uncertain.