LOS ANGELES — Trevor Ariza got his NBA championship ring and his Houston Rockets got the win.

Aaron Brooks saw the ring dripping with diamonds and suddenly he was off on a career night. He took the Rockets with him, scoring a career-high 33 points, including five 3-pointers, in a 101-91 victory over Los Angeles last night, sending the Lakers to a second consecutive loss.

"That's my first time seeing an NBA ring," Brooks said. "It moved us and we played inspired basketball."

The Lakers have three losses already, something that didn't happen last season until Dec. 9.

"Mortified," Kobe Bryant deadpanned. "We'll get better, we know what's at stake. We'll figure our way through this."

Houston's Ariza, a member of last season's Lakers championship team, received his ring from Bryant and Derek Fisher on court before the game.

Mavericks 95, Pistons 90: Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, and rookie Rodrique Beaubois added 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting for visiting Dallas. Drew Gooden had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Shawn Marion also had 11 points, and Jason Kidd added 10 points and seven assists.

Suns 101, Raptors 100: Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points to lead host Phoenix over Toronto. Toronto led 100-98 when Steve Nash came through with a driving layup and was fouled with 38.9 left. He converted the foul shot for the final score.

Clippers 101, Thunder 93: Baron Davis scored 24 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute, to help visiting Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak. Kevin Durant scored a season-high 40 points for Oklahoma City.

NOTES

76ers: Philadelphia forward Marreese Speights will miss six to eight weeks with a left knee injury. Speights was injured in the fourth quarter of a 94-88 loss at Chicago on Saturday night. An MRI yesterday revealed he has a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.