Pistons stay close to Celts
Tobias Harris scored 25 points and Avery Bradley added 24 in the Pistons’ 112-103 victory against the Miami Heat yesterday in Detroit.
Reggie Jackson scored 17 points, rookie Luke Kennard had 14 off the bench and Andre Drummond added eight points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons. At 10-3, Detroit is second behind the Celtics (12-2) in the Eastern Conference and off to its best start since going 10-2 in 2005-06.
The Pistons used a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to pull away.
“Our guys got down in the second half and just kept playing, kept fighting,” Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I was really proud of our guys.”
Hassan Whiteside had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dion Waiters added 16 points and five assists for Miami.
The Pistons led 58-55 at halftime and 83-81 entering the final quarter. They opened a 91-86 edge after Kennard’s jumper. Later, after a 6-0 run got Miami to 93-92, Kennard hit consecutive shots — a runner and a 3-pointer — to make it 98-92 with 7 minutes to play. Kennard’s layup made it 107-97 with 2:24 left.
“We were not able to dictate and impose our style on this game, pretty much all across the board,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Rockets 118, Pacers 95 — In Indianapolis, James Harden had 26 points and 15 assists to power Houston past Indiana.
Eric Gordon added 21 points for Houston, and Clint Capela had 20 points and 17 rebounds. Houston led by 23 in the game that was hardly contested by Indiana.
Victor Oladipo had 28 points, and Domantas Sabonis added 17 off the bench for Indiana, and Lance Stephenson had eight points and 10 assists.
Defense was also a high point for the Rockets with 10 of Indiana’s 13 turnovers coming by way of a steal. And Houston outscored the Pacers 46-38 in the paint.
Harden has at least 20 points and seven assists in all 14 games this season and has seven double-doubles and two triple-doubles.
Thunder 112, Mavericks 99 — Paul George scored 37 points, Russell Westbrook added 27 and host Oklahoma City overcame the absence of two regular starters to down Dallas.
Carmelo Anthony was ruled out about an hour before tipoff because of a sore lower back, and starting Steven Adams sat out with a right calf contusion.
Without Anthony, the Thunder’s other two super- stars carried the offensive load, fueling a 26-10 run in the third quarter that broke open what had been a tight game. Oklahoma City won its second straight after four consecutive losses.
Harrison Barnes had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Yogi Ferrell had 18 points for the Mavericks. They have dropped 9-of-10 to fall to 2-12. Dallas is in a particularly tough por- tion of its schedule, having lost both ends of a back-toback against Cleveland and Oklahoma City, and with games against San Antonio and Minnesota looming.
George’s 3-pointer with 11:25 left in the game pushed the Thunder’s advantage to 88-67. A 9-2 run, capped by Yogi Ferrell’s 3-pointer, pulled Dallas within 97-84 with 5:56 left but the Mav- ericks came no closer.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (leg) will be out for the next month.