AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — It was a win-win night at the Palace.

Chauncey Billups got the warm welcome he deserved and the Detroit Pistons won a game they needed.

Billups scored a season-high 34 points in his return to suburban Detroit, but the Pistons came away with the 100-95 victory last night against the Carmelo Anthony-less Denver Nuggets.

The red-white-and-blue clad fans still adore Billups for the 2004 NBA title he led Detroit to as finals MVP and for being its leader during a run of six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals.

His introduction with a signature — "Buh! Buh! Buh! Billups! — set off a standing ovation that lasted a couple of minutes and led to him blowing kisses in each direction.

Billups said it was the most emotional regular season game he's experienced in his 12-year career.

"I may forget the game and what happened," he said. "But the ovation and warm welcome the fans gave me, I'll never forget."

The Nuggets suspended Anthony for the game after he refused to go to the bench when coach George Karl tried to take him out of Denver's game.

Denver has lost five of seven, letting its lead in the Northwest Division slip to a game over Portland and 1 1/2 games ahead of Utah.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 29 points, Tayshaun Prince added 23, and four of their teammates scored at least 16.

Magic 111, Suns 99: Dwight Howard had 21 points and eight rebounds in a bruising battle with Shaquille O'Neal, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and host Orlando used a late 9-0 run to turn back Phoenix.

Bobcats 96, Bulls 80: Raymond Felton had 18 points and nine assists, Raja Bell also scored 18 points and host Charlotte ended the third quarter with an 11-2 run for a 79-62 lead in beating Chicago for its season-high fourth straight victory.

Rockets 107, Raptors 97: Carl Landry scored 22 points, Luis Scola added 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Houston held off an early fourth-quarter charge by Toronto to extend its home-court winning streak to 10 games.

Warriors 118, Timberwolves 94: Stephen Jackson had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the visiting Warriors past the Timberwolves, who missed 22 of their first 30 shots in falling into a 66-37 hole at intermission.

Nets 99, Bucks 95: Brook Lopez had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and visiting New Jersey hit 7 of its final 9 shots beyond the arc after a 2-for-18 start to beat Milwaukee and close to a half-game behind the Bucks for the final playoff spot in the East.

Pacers 117, Kings 109: Jarrett Jack scored 26 points, Troy Murphy had 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and visiting Indiana beat Sacramento to pull within two games of Milwaukee for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Lakers 99, Grizzlies 89: Kobe Bryant scored 31 points and host Los Angeles avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season, taking the lead for good seven minutes into the game en route to beating Memphis.