Griffin, Pistons KO Nets

DETROIT — Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons are on a roll heading into their matchup with his former team.

Griffin scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Andre Drummond added 17 points and 27 rebounds to lift the Pistons to their fifth straight victory, 115-106 over the Nets on Wednesday night. Detroit hasn’t lost since acquiring Griffin last week in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers play at Detroit on Friday night.

“Obviously, I know all those guys really well. I can’t say that it’s just another game,” Griffin said. “At the end of the day, we’re trying to get wins, they’re trying to get wins. I’m not really the type of guy to be all buddy-buddy during the game.”

Allen Crabbe scored 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets. They have lost four in a row and eight of nine.

“That’s the Allen we want,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Just more aggressive, more assertive, and if that means he’s going to take a few bad shots a game, then we’re OK with that.”

Crabbe scored 16 of Brooklyn’s points in a row during one fourth-quarter stretch, capped by a 3-pointer that cut Detroit’s lead to three at 9188. The Pistons put the ball in Griffin’s hands after that, and he scored nine of their next 11.

“He took over,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He’s done some good things since he’s been here in the four games, but that was his best offense for us.”

Drummond pulled down 12 rebounds in the first half and added 11 in the third quarter. He finished with a season high, just two shy of his career best. It was the third time in the last five games he reached 20 rebounds.

He shot only 5 of 17 from the field, but that just meant more opportunities for offensive rebounds. He had seven of those. Despite all that, the Pistons were outrebounded as a team, 50-46. —AP