Pistons' balance attack clips Clippers, 108-97, at Palace
Six Pistons scored in double figures, led by Marcus Morris' 17 points
Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy asked for more effort from his team.
The Pistons showed plenty of post-Thanksgiving guts and gumption in a physical, at times downright nasty, game against the Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA’s best team this season, at the Palace tonight.
Detroit topped L.A., 108-97, after leading the Clippers at the end of the third quarter, 82-80.
Pistons guard Kantavious Caldwell-Pope had four triples, scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists as the Pistons improved to 8-9, while the Clippers fell to 14-3.
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Darrun Hilliard and Michael Gbinije came off the bench Friday in place of the injured Reggie Bullock (knee) and suspended Stanley Johnson.
Both were busy.
Pistons center Aron Baynes (defensive rebounding and scoring) and forward Jon Leuer (all over the floor, 11 points off the bench) weren’t afraid to throw their weight around either.
Van Gundy was encouraged by the Pistons grit against the Clippers in defending their lead on Friday night.
“They (Clippers) had a great six minutes at the end of the third quarter when we just couldn’t control them,” said Van Gundy. “Other than that, we fought hard and defended really well.
“I was really happy with that, and we made shots and I think we did a good job of executing offensively."
Caldwell-Pope sparked the Pistons to a 63-50 lead with two quick triples at the start of the third quarter.
But former Duke guard J.J. Redick, who earned the jeers of the rowdy crowd over several incidents, got hot at the end of the third, nailing two three-pointers, to reduce the Pistons lead to just two points.
The Pistons were embarrassed by the Clippers, 114-82, in the first meeting of the season at Staples Arena Nov. 7.
Detroit played with plenty of energy and emotion Friday from the opening buzzer, which Van Gundy had demanded of them after a recent four-game losing slump.
At the half, the Pistons had scrapped to a 57-48 lead, with Tobias Harris scoring 13 points and Ish Smith contributing 10.
Van Gundy wanted to see what the Pistons were made of against a top team.
“We sure did – we got a lot of effort tonight and that’s what it is going to take,” said Van Gundy. “It’s not easy ever, especially when you play teams like that. It’s not going to be easy and you got to fight. I thought we showed a lot, being up 18 points midway during the third (quarter) and losing the lead, and coming back and closing it out the way we did in the fourth.
“I thought it was really, really good.”
Clippers guard Jamal Crawford paced the Clippers in the first half with 11, while forward Blake Griffin had 10.
The Pistons scored first on a dunk by Andre Drummond (16 points, 10 rebounds, three steals) and shot to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter behind scoring from Marcus Morris (team-high 17 points), Harris (16 points) and Caldwell-Pope (16 points).
Detroit extended the lead to 17-9 on Pope’s three-pointer jump shot with 7:10 remaining on the clock.
Drummond showed he meant business with a gigantic alley-oop dunk and the Pistons lead 19-9.
At the end of the first, Detroit had jumped out to a 35-23 advantage, Harris with nine points.
Smith added 16 points and seven assists.
Griffin and Redick each scored 24.
Contact Mike Brudenell: mbrudenell@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebrudenell.
