DPA /Los Angeles

Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen dunks in the first quarter of their NBA game against the Houston Rockets in Boston on Monday
Pressed into the starting lineup, Aaron Brooks stepped in and stepped up. Brooks scored 24 points, including a pair of game-sealing free throws with 17 seconds left, and the Houston Rockets snapped a five-game losing streak, with a 108-102 road win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
After missing the last three games with an ankle injury, Brooks was unsure he would see action. But the speedy Rockets guard was called on to start in place of their leading scorer Kevin Martin, out with right wrist sprain.
“I came in uncertain and I was told I’d be playing,” Brooks said. “I was supposed to make a decision but the trainers made it for me. I felt good out there.”
“AB looked like the AB of old,” said Rockets back court partner Kyle Lowery, who finished with 17 points and eight assists. “That’s a great sign to see him back in that form.”
Chase Budinger had 13 points, Argentine Luis Scola and Jordan Hill added 12 apiece for the Rockets (17-21), who without Martin and big man Brad Miller (sore left knee), won their third straight trip to Boston.
“We played with a sense of urgency in a hostile environment. We played together like we needed this game and we were down two men,” Lowery added. “Getting this win game in Boston against a great team like that is great for our confidence.”
Ray Allen and Marquis Daniels scored 19 points apiece for the Celtics (28-9), who minus Kevin Garnett (right calf strain) for the seventh straight time, dropped a game behind idle Miami for Eastern Conference supremacy following their second straight setback.
“It’s a very disappointing game for us, a home game without one of their best scorers,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s a mental mindset, and it starts with me. I’ve got to somehow figure out a way of getting them to see the urgency of the whole season, and not the single game.
“I don’t like where we’re at right now, because I think we’re on cruise control and we think we’re going to show up and win,” he added. “When you’re short-handed that’s not going to happen.”
Taking advantage of an uninspired club lacking intensity and energy, the Rockets extended an eight-point lead to 106-94 after Brooks buried his fourth and fifth triples of the game around Shane Battier’s tip-in with 3:05 remaining.
Three-pointers by Allen and Paul Pierce capped an 8-0 run to pull the Celtics to 106-102 with 27 ticks remaining.
Unable to find an open man on the inbound pass, twice the Rockets were forced to call timeouts. They finally got the ball to Brooks, who was immediately fouled, and sank two from the stripe to ice their first victory of 2011.
“The guys never folded, never gave them an inch,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “Every time we come up here we have people out and we end up winning the game. It’s nice to see. It just goes to show what you can do when you go out there and bust your tail.”
Chicago Bulls 95,
 Detroit Pistons 82
Derrick Rose scored 29 points, Carlos Boozer had 27 with 11 rebounds and the Bulls (25-12) charged past the Pistons for their seventh consecutive home win.
Charlotte 96, Memphis Grizzlies 82
Stephen Jackson scored 27 points. DJ Augustin had 18 with nine assists and the Bobcats (14-21) improved to 5-2 since interim head coach Paul Silas took over for fired Larry Brown.
Zach Randolph collected 15 points and 15 rebounds for the visiting Grizzlies (17-21), who shot a frosty 39% from the field en route to their second straight loss.