Dallas

Morris, Drummond Help Pistons Beat Mavericks 102-96

Marcus Morris scored 20 points, including two 3-pointers during a decisive fourth-quarter run, and Andre Drummond had 25 points and 17 rebounds to help the Detroit Pistons beat the Dallas Mavericks 102-96 Wednesday night.

Drummond leads the NBA with 54 double-doubles. Tobias Harris added 19 points for Detroit.

Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki each scored 25 points for Dallas, which lost its season-high fourth in a row.

Following a tight first three quarters, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stole an outlet pass and drove for a layup to give the Pistons an 82-81 lead. That started a 12-2 run that included Morris' two 3s, the last to go up 92-83 with 5:21 to go. That was the largest lead either team held in the game.

Dallas closed to 95-92 on Zaza Pachulia's three-point play with 2:07 to go, and the Mavericks forced a 24-second violation on the Pistons' next possession. But Parsons shot an air ball as the shot clock was winding down, and Reggie Jackson's long 3 with 58.1 seconds left iced the game.

The Mavericks are in a stretch with nine out of 10 games at home but have gone 4-5 in that stretch.

Detroit erased an eight-point deficit with a 17-2 run in the second quarter and led 54-52 at halftime.

Drummond scored the team's last 10 points of the half over a 4:09 span despite making only 4 of 11 free throws during that stretch. He finished the half with 20 points.

Detroit's 33 victories are one more than all of last season. Dallas matched last season's loss total with its 32nd.

TIP INS

Pistons: Detroit entered the night a half game behind Chicago for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but coach Stan Van Gundy wanted his players focused on the smaller picture: "You can't be thinking about where you are in the standings and all of that. It doesn't translate on to the floor. You simply do what you need to do to win games." ... Pistons forwards Stanley Johnson (sprained right shoulder) and Anthony Tolliver (sprained right knee) missed their seventh and eighth consecutive games, respectively.

Mavericks: This was the Mavs second of nine straight games against teams with winning records. ... Dallas played its 600th game at the American Airlines Center. Its first, on Oct. 30, 2001, also came against Detroit. The Mavericks are 440-159 at home since leaving Reunion Arena for the AAC.

UP NEXT

Pistons: Visit Charlotte on Friday night.

Mavericks: Host Indiana on Saturday night.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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