Wizards Contain Drummond, Hold On To Beat Pistons, 97-95
AUBURN HILLS (AP) — Nene scored 18 points and Otto Porter added 17 as the Washington Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 97-95 on Saturday night.
The Wizards had the ball and a two-point lead with 9.2 seconds left, but Porter was called for a five-second violation on the inbound attempt. That gave Detroit a last chance, but Marcus Morris missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Marcin Gortat finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Ramon Sessions had 14 points and nine assists off the bench. Washington's reserves outscored Detroit's 51-15.
Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with 20 points and nine assists, while Morris had 18 points and nine rebounds. Andre Drummond failed to get a double-double for the first time this season, finishing with eight points and 13 rebounds. He also didn't get an offensive rebound in 37 minutes.
Detroit took an 87-85 lead on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's 3-pointer midway through the fourth, but Garrett Temple responded with one at the other end. Washington expanded the margin to 94-89 with four minutes left.
Drummond missed a 2-footer with 1:15 left, and Gortat dunked on the other end to make it 96-91. Ersan Ilyasova's follow shot made it a one-possession game, and John Wall missed in traffic.
Morris, though, missed a quick 3-pointer with 25 seconds left, forcing the Pistons to foul. Bradley Beal split a pair of free throws, and Jackson cut the deficit to 97-95 with a pair from the line.
The Pistons jumped out to a 12-4 lead, but quickly ran into a familiar problem. Playing their second game in two nights against a rested opponent, Detroit's bench quickly lost the momentum built by the starters.
Detroit's reserves went 2 for 11 in the half, getting outscored 22-5. With the Wizards dominating at both ends of the floor, Stan Van Gundy had to get the starters back into the game, but Washington had built a 14-point lead.
With the starters back on the floor, the Pistons made it 52-all at the half, and led 69-58 midway through the third quarter. Once again, though, the lead was short lived, as Washington held a 75-73 edge at quarter's end.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Beal returned to the lineup after missing three games with a shoulder injury. . Temple averaged 14 points in his two games starting in place of Beal, including 18 in Wednesday's rout of Milwaukee. . Kris Humphries didn't score in 16 minutes, only the second time he had gone scoreless in 15-plus minutes since 2012.
Pistons: Drummond, the league leader in offensive rebounds, had never played more than 25 minutes without getting one. Drummond got loud "MVP! MVP!" chants while hitting two free throws midway through the fourth —the first time he has received those in his career. ... Detroit's next game is Monday in Milwaukee, its first matchup with former Pistons forward Greg Monroe.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Host Indiana on Tuesday.
Pistons: Visits Milwaukee on Monday.
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