Jennings leads Pistons to 103-80 win at Cleveland

CLEVELAND – As the shots kept falling, Brandon Jennings' swagger grew.

Heat-check triple on the break? Strut back down the floor.

Pull-up jumper from 20 feet? Stop a second to admire the handiwork.

While most of metro Detroit was suffering through another Detroit Lions heartbreak Sunday afternoon, Jennings helped the Detroit Pistons pull off their most stunning victory of the season.

His 25 points – 12 in the third quarter – led the Pistons (7-23) to a 103-80 beat-down of LeBron James and the surprisingly struggling Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Pistons, suffering through a horrific season, moved to 2-0 after their public break-up with Josh Smith, who was waived Monday.

The move has obviously helped Jennings, who has re-assumed primary ball-handling duties for the Pistons with Smith now toiling for the Houston Rockets. He added six assists and five rebounds on 10-for-18 shooting – including a 5-for-9 night from behind the three-point line.

"I am the point guard so I do expect to have the ball in my hands a lot just to make plays and to get guys in the right position," Jennings said. "Our fast-breaks, we're getting easy buckets since I've had the ball in my hands by kicking the ball up, just getting it to the open guy, just finding guys."

It was Jennings' second-straight game as a dominant factor. He had 14 points and 10 assists on 6-for-12 shooting in Friday night's 119-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers, a win that snapped a four-game losing skid.

Smith, who remains the team's largest financial commitment this season, had one of the highest usage rates in the league and fans remember him taking off, leading the break. Sometimes it would lead to alley-oop dunks to Andre Drummond or open triples for the shooters. Sometimes it would lead to careless turnovers.

There is no question who gets the ball now.

The Pistons had a 50-47 lead at halftime and Jennings personally fueled a 7-0 run to start the second half with a triple, a jumper and an assist to a streaking Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (13 points).

He was 5-for-8 and nailed two triples in the third.

"The third quarter was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said.

The Pistons, who once trailed by 15, hit the Cavs (18-12) with a 72-31 run over the last three quarters.

Van Gundy called a 20-second time-out with the Cavs leading, 32-17, early in the second quarter. It was then bombs away as the Pistons started raining triples. They were 17-for-31 from three-point range for the night.

"I don't know what turned it," Van Gundy said. "I don't know what turned it. Guys made a lot better of an effort on the defensive end of the floor. We started getting back and shots started going in the basket. We played with more energy. I have absolutely no idea what turned it. I wish I did because then I could do it every night. We played really well over the last 30 minutes of that game."

The Pistons held the Cavs to 37.8% shooting and James to 5-for-19 from the field.

Of course Van Gundy was asked about the team's improved play with Smith not around to dominate so much of the offense.

"So now I get to go back and second-guess the first 28 games?" Van Gundy said. "I'm not going to do that. You guys can, it's fair. There's nothing for me to gain through that."

Cleveland All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving missed the game with a bruised left knee.

Vince Ellis writes for the Detroit Free Press.