Griffin has a hand in stopping streak

DETROIT — The Rockets needed one more stop in regulation, one strong defensive effort from P.J. Tucker, one effective switch from

Clint Capela, one missed shot from Blake Griffin.

When the Rockets could not get one stop, with Griffin hitting his game-saving 3pointer, they could never get another.

The Rockets did everything right on the Pistons’ final possession of regulation before everything went wrong in overtime. Griffin’s 3-pointer from 31 feet

helped take the Pistons to overtime, where they scored on every trip down the floor, pulling away for a 116-111 win to end the Rockets’ winning streak at five games Friday night.

“We just couldn’t get stops, man,” said Rockets guard James Harden, who had 33 points but did not score in overtime. “In foul trouble, I couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted to. We had mental mistakes, errors, turnovers.”

The Pistons went from making 34.3 percent of their shots in the second half to hitting all five shots they put up in overtime. Yet as much as the Pistons rolled offensively in overtime, scoring 18 points after getting 37 in the second half, the Rockets looked back on the chances to put the game away in regulation.

They had a chance at a dagger 3-pointer with 1:24 left when the Pistons began sending a second defender to get the ball out of Harden’s hands. The Rockets had cooled off after taking a five-point, fourth-quarter lead after a sudden run from Chris Paul to end the third quarter and start the fourth.

That was enough for Pistons coach Dwane Casey to run an extra defender at him. Tucker missed a floater from 9 feet, but got the rebound. The Pistons doubled Harden again and Harden found a wide-open Paul at the 3-point line.

“I got to knock that down,” Paul said. “It was probably a goaltend. I don’t know. We’ll look at it. I still got to make it, maybe not give it a chance for a goaltend.”

Paul’s 3 bounced twice on the rim before the Pistons’ Andre Drummond snatched it, allowing the Pistons to tie the game seven seconds later.

“We got good looks,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “CP’s was kind of taken off the rim, but that’s another story.”

After Reggie Jackson tied the game, Harden made one of two free throws, got the rebound on the miss, but was stripped by rarely used Bruce Brown. Harden fouled Brown on his drive, with the rookie putting the Pistons in front with 37.7 seconds left. When Harden scored on a long jumper, the Pistons were down to their last chance.

The Pistons got the ball to Griffin, who had made just 1 of 5 attempts from deep when Tucker would not allow a look from anywhere else. Down to the final ticks on the shot clock, Griffin backed up to 31 feet and gave the Pistons a two-point lead with 3.5 seconds left.

“He was kind of far,” said Capela, who had a career-high 29 points with 21 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.

The Rockets forced overtime. Unable to get Harden or Eric Gordon free for a 3-pointer, Gordon took Paul’s pass on the run, hitting his drive with .1 left.

“We had a chance to win, close the game out,” D’Antoni said. “We had our 3s and missed. Blake hit his. Kind of the difference in the game. Then we just couldn’t get any stops.”