Pistons down Mavericks in OT
DETROIT — Killian Hayes scored eight of 22 points in overtime as the Detroit Pistons recovered from blowing a late lead to beat the Dallas Mavericks 131-125 on Thursday night.
Christian Wood’s dunk tied the game at 125 with 1:35 left in overtime, but Hayes answered with back-to-back 3pointers to put the Pistons ahead by six with 41.6 left and seal the win.
“They were switching me into a one-on-one matchup, so I knew I could get a shot off,” he said. “The first one felt good and the second one felt even better.”
Hayes has struggled in the first 2 ½ years of his career, shooting 36.8 percent, including 27.6 percent on 3-pointers, but coach Dwane Casey has always stressed his value doesn’t come from his shot.
“We need a point guard who can play quarterback on the floor,” Casey said. “We don’t have a lot of oneon-one players, so we need that quarterback to organize the offense and make sure everyone is getting touches.
“He’s our best playmaker, he’s our best point guard and he’s our best defender against point guards. That’s what we need from him.”
Bojan Bogdanovic led
the Pistons with 30 points while Marvin Bagley III added 19 points and 13 rebounds.
“Bogey had his European basketball pride at stake tonight, playing against Luka (Doncic), and he did what he does,” Casey said. “I’m sure Luka grew up watching Bogey, so they both wanted to have big games tonight.”
Doncic had 35 points and 10 assists for Dallas. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 26 points.
“I’m disappointed with the effort we gave on the defensive end,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “That’s something we will talk
about.”
Collins, Hunter out with injuries
The Atlanta Hawks will be without both of their starting forwards for at least the next three games.
John Collins will miss at least the next two weeks with a sprained left ankle and De’andre Hunter will be sidelined for at least one week with a right hip flexor strain, the Hawks announced.
Both departed with the injuries during Wednesday night’s win over Orlando. Hunter played only seven minutes and
Collins was hurt after a dunk that didn’t count at the halftime buzzer.
Hunter is third on the Hawks in scoring at 14.9 points per game, and Collins is fourth at 12.3.
Green fined for obscene language
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fined $25,000 for directing obscene language toward a fan.
The incident occurred with 11:20 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 116-113 loss to the Mavericks on Nov. 29 at American Airlines Center.