Pistons and Wizards extend winning streaks
Detroit still unbeatable with Blake Washington maintains momentum without Wall Magic edge Heat
Blake Griffin posted 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and the Detroit Pistons stretched their winning streak to four games by pulling away from the visiting Portland Trail Blazers for a 111-91 victory on Monday night.
Detroit reached the .500 mark and is 3-0 since Griffin joined the starting lineup. The five-time All-Star was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers a week ago.
A handful of other Pistons also reached double figures. Andre Drummond racked up 17 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, and Anthony Tolliver scored 13 of his 15 points during the fourth quarter. Langston Galloway and Reggie Bullock supplied 13 points each, and rookie Luke Kennard tossed in 12.
“This is the perfect time for us to try to make our run, right before the AllStar break,” Galloway said in a postgame TV interview. “A lot of teams are trying to separate right now, so we’ve got to keep battling, keep getting wins and finish out this stretch.”
Damian Lillard’s 20 points led the Trail Blazers, who lost on a buzzer-beating shot at Boston on Sunday. C.J. McCollum had 14 points, Pat Connaughton added 11 and Jusuf Nurkic chipped in 10 for Portland.
The Pistons shot 50.6 percent from the field while holding the Blazers to 39.4 percent shooting. Detroit had a 51-44 rebounding edge and assisted in 36 of its 44 field goals.
Griffin scored 15 first-half points, including a layup in the closing seconds to give Detroit a 49-43 halftime advantage. Drummond and Bullock scored 10 points apiece before the break, while Napier led the Blazers with eight points.
The Pistons increased their lead to 75-57 with a 14-2, third-quarter run. Stanley Johnson scored five points during that stretch and Kennard capped it off with a 3-pointer.
Portland finished the quarter with a 10-4 spurt, including five points from Lillard, to make it 79-67 heading into the fourth.
The Blazers were unable to get the deficit under double digits. When Drummond hit two free throws with 6:56 remaining, Detroit’s margin was up to 20 at 94-74.
Wizards 111, Pacers 102
Bradley Beal scored 21 on 9-of-16 shooting to lead eight Washington players in double figures in a win at Indiana.
The Wizards have won five consecutive games, all since John Wall went down with a knee injury. He had a procedure last week and is expected to be out six to eight weeks.
Kelly Oubre Jr. contributed 15 points and Otto Porter Jr. 13 for the Wizards, who shot 54.9 percent from the field. Washington’s Markieff Morris contributed 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Indiana’s Bojan Bogdanovich scored 29 points.
Magic 111, Heat 109
Jonathon Simmons drove the lane for a game-winning dunk with 1:31 left as Orlando – which entered with the worst record in the NBA – upset host Miami.
Miami had a chance to send the game to overtime on its final possession with 13 seconds left, but Josh Richardson missed a contested midrange jumper. Miami’s Tyler Johnson grabbed the rebound, but his shot was blocked by Bismack Biyombo.
After a review in which a goaltending call on Biyombo was overturned, Miami got one more chance with 1.8 seconds left, but Justise Winslow’s bad inbounds pass was intercepted by Orlando to end the game.
Jazz 133, Pelicans 109
Rodney Hood came off the bench to score 30 points as hot-shooting Utah won its sixth consecutive game with a victory at New Orleans.
The Jazz made 58.4 percent (52-of-89) of their field-goal attempts, including 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from beyond the arc.
Utah’s Ricky Rubio had 20 points and 11 assists, while Rudy Gobert had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jrue Holiday paced the Pelicans with 28 points.
Clippers 104, Mavericks 101
Dirk Nowitzki reached the 50,000-minute milestone, but Danilo Gallinari stole the spotlight with two lead-changing free throws with 24 seconds remaining, helping host Los Angeles overtake Dallas.
Gallinari, playing just his third game since missing almost two months with injury, finished with a season-best 28 points. Tobias Harris added 19 for the Clippers, who scored the game’s final 13 points after trailing 101-91 with 4:42 to go.
The win was the Clippers’ fourth in their past five games and 14th in their past 20 contests.