Pistons contain Drummond, hold on to beat Pistons 97-95
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (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.
