Jennings Carries Pistons Past Celtics 107-106
KEN POWTAK, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Brandon Jennings scored 28 points, making a key 3-pointer with 46.7 seconds left, and matched his season high with 14 assists Wednesday night and the Detroit Pistons held on for a 107-106 win over the Boston Celtics.
Andre Drummond scored 14 points with 16 rebounds and Josh Smith added 20 points for the Pistons, who won for the seventh time in 11 games. It was the Pistons' sixth road win in their past seven.
Jared Sullinger scored 19 points, Jordan Crawford had 17, Avery Bradley 14 and Jeff Green 13 for Boston, which lost for just the third time in nine games.
Green missed a driving one-hander wildly just before the horn sounded.
The Pistons held a seven-point lead after Smith's basket with 2:56 to play before Boston scored the next eight points, with Sullinger's 3-pointer from the top capping the spree with 61 seconds left.
Jennings then made a 3-pointer over Bradley 14 seconds later. On Boston's next possession, Sullinger was fouled, hit the first free throw, but missed the second and Boston trailed 107-106 with 41.5 seconds left.
Jennings missed a long jumper and Drummond failed to convert the put-back attempt and Sullinger grabbed the rebound, setting Boston's final shot.
Neither team held more than a one-possession lead in the opening six minutes of the fourth quarter until Drummond's hook in the lane gave the Pistons a 96-91 lead with 5:46 to play.
Smith then had the next three Pistons' baskets, trading scores with Boston as the Pistons maintained between a four and seven-point edge.
Detroit had taken the lead 92-89 on Jennings' shot-clock beating 3 from the right wing with 6:49 left.
The Pistons used an 11-0 run early in the second half, slicing an 11-point halftime deficit to one before Jennings made a 3-pointer and was fouled on the shot by Bradley. He hit the free throw, giving them their first lead of the game 74-73 with 5:01 left in the third.
After shooting 61.5 percent (24 of 39) in the first half, Boston hit just seven of 24 attempts (29.2) in the third as the Pistons closed it to 81-80 after three.
The Celtics held a 63-52 halftime edge.
Boston, which led by 19 after one quarter, pushed it to 52-32 on Kelly Olynyk's layup before the Pistons scored 14 of the next 18 points to slice it to 56-46. Greg Monroe scored three straight baskets during the run.
The Celtics shot 69.6 percent (16 of 23) and led 42-23 after one quarter, ending the quarter on Gerald Wallace's well-placed alley-oop feed to Sullinger at the buzzer. With 0.2 seconds left in the quarter, Detroit's Kyle Singler was called for traveling in front of Boston's bench. Wallace inbounded the ball just past the rim to Sullinger, who tipped it in as the horn sounded.
Boston led 26-20 before closing the quarter by scoring 16 of the final 19 points. Bradley had a pair of 3s and scored eight in the spree. Detroit, which entered the game leading the league in points in the paint, was outscored 18-8 in the lane during the opening quarter.
NOTES: Trade rumors were circling around the Celtics the past two days with forward Brandon Bass, guard Courtney Lee and injured guard Rajon Rondo being mentioned. ... Boston F Wallace arrived in the locker room about 90 minutes before tip-off and talked about how his approximately 10-mile commute took an hour and a half. ... Detroit entered the game leading the NBA in points in the paint per game with 51.6. ... The Pistons beat Eastern Conference-leading Indiana on the road in their previous game on Tuesday. ... The Pistons beat Boston 87-77 at home on Nov. 3.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
