Pacers Pull Away Late To Beat Pistons, 107-103
AUBURN HILLS (AP) — Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points, including three straight jumpers down the stretch, and the Indiana Pacers kept up their playoff push with a 107-103 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
Indiana (36-43) has won four in a row and is one game behind Brooklyn and Boston for the last two Eastern Conference playoff spots. All three teams won on Friday.
C.J. Miles also scored 24 points for the Pacers, and Roy Hibbert had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Reggie Jackson led Detroit with 21 points. Greg Monroe had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Andre Drummond finished with 11 points, 15 boards and three blocked shots.
The game was tied at 79 after three quarters, and even with the Pistons eliminated from postseason contention, they beat the Pacers to several loose balls early in the fourth, forcing Frank Vogel to call for a timeout.
Detroit continued to outhustle Indiana, but Anthony Tolliver missed a 3-pointer that would have made it an eight-point game with six minutes left.
Miles hit a pair of 3s to get Indiana back into the game, and Luis Scola tied it at 93 with 4:11 to play. Jackson and Monroe quickly picked up their fifth foul.
The Pacers were so eager to put Drummond — the worst free-throw shooter in NBA history — on the line that they started intentionally fouling him with 3:50 to play, even though the Pistons weren't in the penalty.
Two fouls later, Drummond missed two free throws, and Stuckey hit three straight shots to put Indiana up 101-96 with 1:55 left. Tolliver answered with a 3, but Jackson fouled out seconds later.
The first half turned into a scoring duel between Detroit's current point guard and a former holder of the job. Jackson had 15 points to Stuckey's 12, but Stuckey got more help, and a late Paul George 3-pointer gave the Pacers a 51-47 lead at the half.
Indiana threatened to pull away early in the third, going up by seven early in the period, but the Pistons rallied after a timeout, scoring the next eight points.
George hit another 3-pointer in the last minute, and Ian Mahinmi's tip-in at the buzzer made it 79-79 going into the fourth.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Chris Copeland was inactive for the second straight game after being stabbed in New York early Wednesday. ... The Pacers, who lead in the NBA in bench scoring, got 48 points from their reserves on Friday, led by Stuckey.
Pistons: Jackson had to change jerseys late in the third quarter after getting blood on his original shirt. ... The Pistons missed six of their first eight free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, with only two coming from Drummond. Jackson and Caldwell-Pope each went 1 for 3.
UP NEXT
Pacers: Host the Thunder on Sunday.
Pistons: Host the Hornets on Sunday in their final home game of the season.
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