Drummond scores 26 points to lead Pistons past Celtics
BOSTON » Andre Drummond scored 26 points with 22 rebounds — both season highs — and Tobias Harris scored 31 to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 118-108 victory on Monday night and send the Celtics to their first loss in Boston since their home opener.
Drummond had 10 rebounds in the first quarter and 11 points in the last 5:36 to help Detroit win the matchup of old-school rivals who are once again the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Reggie Jackson scored 20 points with seven assists for the Pistons, who have won three of their last four.
Marcus Smart scored 23 points, making 6 of 9 from 3-point range, and Kyrie Irving had 18 with nine assists for the Celtics. Boston has lost two of four since a 16-game winning streak. TRAIL BLAZERS 103, KNICKS 91 » Damian Lillard scored 32 points and Portland wrapped up a strong five-game road trip with its third straight victory.
Pat Connaughton added 17 for the Trail Blazers, who also won at Memphis, Brooklyn and Washington while losing only in Philadelphia. They needed to come from 17 down in the fourth quarter to beat the Wizards last time out but were in charge of this one most of the way. SPURS 115, MAVERICKS 108 » LaMarcus Aldridge had a season-high 33 points and 10 rebounds and San Antonio celebrated Tony Parker’s first game of the season by beating Dallas.
Parker had six points and four assists in 14 minutes in his first appearance since tearing his right quadriceps tendon May 3 against Houston in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The injury required surgery and led some to speculate Parker could miss significant time, if he came back at all. Instead, the 35-yearold returned quicker than expected to what he calls the “game I love.” ROCKETS 117, NETS 103 » James Harden scored 20 of his 37 points in the first quarter to lead Houston over Brooklyn.
Harden added 10 rebounds and eight assists to guide the Rockets to their fifth straight win. When he took a break with 1:28 remaining in the first quarter, he was outscoring the Nets 20-17 by himself, not to mention four assists at that point. He was 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first quarter and finished 8-for-13.
Clint Capela added 20 points for Houston, and Chris Paul had a season-high 14 assists on his bobblehead night. PACERS 121, MAGIC 109 » Victor Oladipo scored 26 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 22 to help Indiana hand Orlando its ninth straight loss.
Orlando cut the Pacers lead to 95-91 five minutes into the fourth quarter, but Indiana put together a 13-0 run that lasted nearly three minutes. The Pacers’ fourth quarter surge ultimately proved the difference in a game where the Magic fought desperately to snap their losing streak.