Dennis Rodman gave the Dallas Mavericks a giant kiss-off.
The Los Angeles Lakers were on their way to beating the Mavericks for the 15th straight time when the NBA's reigning bad boy came up with another antic.Rodman blew a kiss at the Dallas bench after making a free throw in the third quarter and was called for a technical foul in the Lakers' 96-93 win Monday night.
"How can he get a technical just for blowing a kiss?" Lakers coach Kurt Rambis asked referee Ken Mauer.
Rodman did not talk about his strange technical. He turned down interview requests and dressed in a room away from the media.
Rodman had 17 rebounds as the Lakers improved to 11-0 with him in the lineup. He played for the second time since leaving the team for four games because of personal reasons. The Lakers lost three of those four games.
"It's good to have him back," Shaquille O'Neal said. "His job is to rebound, and that's what he did tonight."
O'Neal had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who went 3-3 on their road trip.
Kobe Bryant scored 21 and Glen Rice 17 for L.A. Michael Finley led Dallas with 23.
SUPERSONICS 92, 76ERS 76: Gary Payton scored 26, and Seattle limited Allen Iverson to 14 points to beat visiting Philadelphia.
The Sonics beat the Sixers for the 12th straight time. Seattle was minus Vin Baker, out with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
Iverson, the NBA's leading scorer, did not play the last 15 minutes after getting a split lower lip in the third period.
He was 4-for-13 from the field and had four turnovers in 28 minutes.
BUCKS 115, PISTONS 86: Milwaukee made its first 11 shots and limited Detroit to one first-quarter basket for an easy home win.
Ray Allen had 19 points, Glenn Robinson 18 in the Bucks' highest-scoring game this season.
Milwaukee led 23-2 when Christian Laettner hit the Pistons' only field goal of the opening period with 5:10 left. The Bucks led 40-14 when the quarter ended.
ROCKETS 110, KINGS 100: Hakeem Olajuwon had a season-high 32 points and 12 rebounds as host Houston held off Sacramento.
Charles Barkley had 19 points and 16 rebounds and Scottie Pippen had 25 points and eight assists. Michael Dickerson added 23 points for the Rockets.
SUNS 89, GRIZZLIES 84: Jason Kidd overcame a poor night at the foul line to help Phoenix win at home. Kidd, who turns 26 today, made only 11 of 22 free throws. But he scored 24 points and led a 10-0 fourth-quarter surge to beat Vancouver.
Tom Gugliotta added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns.
NETS 106, RAPTORS 87: Stephon Marbury had 31 points, 12 assists as host New Jersey won for just the third time in 19 games. Chris Carr added a career-high 24 points as the Nets stopped Toronto's five-game win streak. Marbury and Carr were acquired March 11 in a nine-player, three-team trade.
John Wallace led the Raptors with 19 points.
PACERS 90, WIZARDS 86: Reggie Miller made a three-point play that keyed a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter for Indiana.
The Pacers trailed 63-58 before Miller rallied them. He scored nine of his 18 points in the final period. Mitch Richmond scored a season-high 35 points for visiting Washington.
HAWKS 80, KNICKS 71: Atlanta took advantage of a tired New York team playing its third game in three nights. The Knicks missed 16 of their first 17 fourth-quarter shots, bringing loud boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Mookie Blaylock had 15 points and Steve Smith and Alan Henderson added 14 each for Atlanta.