Kevin Durant came hard off the screen, took the pass and launched a jumper that banked off the glass and through the net.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS guard Chauncey Billups will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his left Achilles' tendon during a victory over the Magic in Orlando on Monday.

Paul Pierce has moved into second place on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list. But Pierce (21,797 points) is only third among his current teammates in career scoring, behind Kevin Garnett (23,659) and Ray Allen (22,583).

In an era in which All-Stars demand trades and abandon their original teams because circumstances aren’t optimal, the Celtics have Paul Pierce, whose 13-year tenure in Boston began with a series of setbacks but in its later stages has had lots of accomplishments.

This didn’t seem likely when Greg Stiemsma was driving his Ford Focus around Ankara, Turkey, one of his six professional basketball stops since leaving the University of Wisconsin.