Bulls Hold On For 88-82 Win Over Pistons
CHICAGO (AP) -- Pau Gasol had 26 points and 10 rebounds for his 50th double-double of the season, helping the Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 88-82, on Friday night.
Jimmy Butler scored 18 points and Joakim Noah added nine rebounds and 10 assists for the Bulls, who won for the fourth time in five games. Chicago pulled ahead of Toronto for third place in the Eastern Conference after the Raptors' loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Gasol secured the double-double -- and the win -- with 5.7 seconds to play when he had a tip-dunk of Taj Gibson's miss and got fouled by Andre Drummond. Gasol hit the free throw, giving Chicago a four-point lead and finishing an important win for the Bulls.
Reggie Jackson had 22 points and nine assists for Detroit, while Andre Drummond had 14 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14 points as the Pistons fell to 24-24 since starting the season 5-23. The Pistons had won five of seven but entered play five games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Drummond became the first player in Pistons history to have at least 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocks in consecutive seasons.
Detroit tied the score at 78 with 2:25 to go on Caldwell-Pope's layup. The Bulls' Aaron Brooks answered with a 3-pointer and a layup, putting Chicago in front 83-78 with 1:15 left.
Drummond hit two free throws with 57.3 to play, and then blocked Gasol's jumper. Drummond followed with a layup to slice Chicago's lead to 83-82 with 30.8 to play, setting up Gasol's heroics.
It was the teams' first meeting since the Pistons' 107-91 win over the Bulls on March 21. In that game, the Bulls led by 12 at halftime but were outscored 63-35 over the final 24 minutes.
This game was much closer.
Chicago took a 53-37 lead with 9:48 left in the third on Gasol's jumper, but the Pistons answered with a 13-0 run. The spurt included a circus shot by Jackson with 7:40 to go when he scooped an underhanded shot around Noah with the shot clock running out.
A basket by John Lucas III sent the game to the fourth tie at 59. During the third, the Bulls only scored 12 points.
That quarter was the opposite of the second, when the Bulls outscored the Pistons 22-9. Detroit's nine points were a season-low in a quarter for the Pistons and also a Bulls opponent.
That allowed Chicago to lead 47-35 at halftime, with Gasol scoring 13. The Bulls shot just 39 percent during the first 24 minutes but went out in front after holding the Pistons to 13 of 37 from the floor during the opening half.
Detroit led 26-25 entering the second after a quarter when Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and Gibson were given technical fouls. Thibodeau was handed his ninth of the season with 3:57 remaining, while Gibson was given a technical with 6.4 seconds to go.
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