Allen Iverson made himself at home in a corner stall in the Detroit Pistons' locker room, laughing out loud at "Sanford and Son" on a portable TV monitor.
"That is crazy!" Iverson said.
A little later, he was welcomed to the Motor City with a standing ovation so loud that the public-address announcer couldn't be heard.
Then, the defending National Basketball Association champions Boston Celtics spoiled everything on Sunday night in Iverson's home debut, beating the Pistons 88-76.
Iverson soaked in the thundering ovation.
"That's all you want when you get traded," said Iverson, acquired from Denver last Monday in a deal that sent Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb to the Nuggets. "You want to get that initial feeling of how they embrace and accept you."
Iverson scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting and had four assists and four turnovers. On Friday night in his first game with the Pistons, he had 24 points and six assists in a 96-103 loss at New Jersey.
In other NBA games on Sunday, it was: Lakers 111, Rockets 82 Hawks 89, Thunder 85 Clippers 103, Mavericks 92 Knicks 107, Jazz 99 Nuggets 100, Grizzlies 90 Kings 115, Warriors 98 and Raptors 89, Bobcats 79.
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Tony Allen scored 12 of his 23 points in the second quarter for Boston. Using four backups, the Celtics outscored the Pistons 30-10 in the period.
"That's our job," Allen said. "If we don't come in and give the team a lift, we aren't doing what we are supposed to do."
The defending champions didn't have any trouble keeping their big cushion in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals.
"Our bench has been phenomenal," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "We've started out slow in three or four games, but the energy of the bench has been tremendous. There isn't one guy that carries them."
Tayshaun Prince led Detroit with 23 points and eight rebounds.
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, Pau Gasol added 20 points and 15 rebounds and the Lakers beat Houston to improve to 5-0.
Jordan Farmar had 16 points and six assists, Andrew Bynum added 13 points and seven rebounds and the Lakers shot 65.8 percent in the second half. Los Angeles has won its five games by an average of 22.4 points.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily November 11, 2008)