AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? Jamal Mashburn couldn’t score 50 points for the second game in a row, but his effort Saturday night was enough for the New Orleans Hornets.

Mashburn scored 29 points and hit a turnaround jumper with 0.2 seconds left, giving the Hornets a 93-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

“I’ve just broken basketball down to its simplest form,” Mashburn said. “You create off the dribble, take open shots and just make plays. When you try to make things complicated, they usually don’t work.”

Mashburn took an inbounds pass, dribbled on the right wing to run down the clock, then hit a jumper over Chauncey Billups to give the Hornets their third win in a row.

“I was taking that one all the way,” he said. “David (Wesley) and I set it up just like we wanted it.”

Cliff Robinson started the play guarding Mashburn, but Wesley’s screen set up the final mismatch. At 6-foot-3, Billups is five inches shorter than Mashburn.

“He’s been on fire, and he just hit a tough shot,” Billups said. “We did everything we could on the play — I contested the shot and even had him leaning away from the basket — and he still hit it.”

Mashburn scored a franchise-record 50 points and hit the winning shot in a 125-123 overtime victory over Memphis on Friday night.

“Jamal has just been sensational,” New Orleans coach Paul Silas said. “I knew he was not giving that last shot up to anybody. He was going to take it. He’d been hitting big shots all night, and to come down and hit that one makes me proud of him.”

Mashburn also had 10 assists and five rebounds, while Wesley added 27 points. Wesley had 35 against Memphis.

“I don’t think I have ever shot the ball this well in my career,” Wesley said. “I’ve had stretches with higher percentages, but that was with a lot of layups and drives. This has almost all been from the perimeter.”

Detroit's Mehmet Okur, center, shoots against New Orleans' Jamaal Magloire, left, and Jerome Moiso. The Hornets edged the Pistons, 93-91, Saturday night in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 23, while Billups added 22. Detroit has lost two straight after taking over first place in the Eastern Conference earlier in the week.

Rockets 93, Grizzlies 82

Houston — Cuttino Mobley scored 29 points and Houston, playing without Steve Francis, held off a late Memphis rally. Mobley had 20 points in the first half as the Rockets snapped a three-game home losing streak. Yao Ming had 18 points and seven rebounds while Moochie Norris, starting in place of Francis, had nine points and nine assists.

Steve Francis sat out the game because of a strained lower back. He will be reevaluated Monday prior to a game at Boston.

The Rockets held a 25-point lead at 84-59 early in the fourth but the Grizzlies outscored Houston 23-10 in the final quarter to make the game close. Lorenzen Wright led Memphis with 24 points.

Jazz 91, Nuggets 82

Salt Lake City — Karl Malone scored 20 and tied a career-high with 10 assists as Utah defeated Denver, the Nuggets’ 14th consecutive road loss and eighth straight overall.

Calbert Cheaney scored 15 points, Matt Harpring had 14 and John Stockton and Scott Padgett each added 11 as Utah used a big third quarter to finish its five-game homestand with a 3-2 record.

Juwan Howard had 20 points and Junior Harrington scored 16 for the Nuggets.

After an uninspired, sloppy first half that ended in a 41-41 tie, the Jazz held the Nuggets scoreless for the first 4:25 of the third quarter on their way to outscoring Denver 27-13 in the period.

Spurs 105, Pacers 96

San Antonio — Tim Duncan scored 21 points and Tony Parker added 14 during a decisive third-quarter run to lead San Antonio to its 10th win in 11 games. The Spurs, up by 11 at the half, broke the game open with a 24-4 run to start the third quarter. Parker, who finished with 18 points, made all five of his shots in the period.

Indiana missed 11 consecutive shots during a seven-minute span in the third, and made only five of its 20 attempts during the period.

Heat 100, Bulls 90

Miami — Eddie Jones returned from a four-game absence to score 23 points and help Miami snap a three-game losing streak with a victory against Chicago.

Jalen Rose scored 31 points before fouling out with 1:56 remaining and reserve center Eddy Curry added a career-high 26 for the Bulls, who fell to 3-29 on the road.

Bucks 93, Trail Blazers 90

Portland, Ore. — Sam Cassell made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left as Milwaukee overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Portland in Gary Payton’s debut as a Buck. Damon Stoudamire, who had not played all game, missed a potential tying 3-pointer with about three seconds left. Milwaukee rebounded and ran out the clock.

Payton scored 22 points and had nine assists in his first game since being traded Thursday from Seattle along with Desmond Mason in a deal that involved Ray Allen going to the SuperSonics. Tim Thomas had 19 points and five rebounds for Milwaukee, which snapped a four-game losing streak.

Bonzi Wells had 26 points to lead the Blazers.

Hawks 89, Clippers 87

Los Angeles — Theo Ratliff scored 18 points and made a critical block in the final minute as Atlanta beat Los Angeles, ending a four-game road losing streak. Glenn Robinson, one of five Hawks in double figures, finished with 17 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help send the Clippers to their 10th loss in 13 games.