Pistons win 5th straight at home
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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Brandon Knight scored 17 points, Kyle Singler and Tayshaun Prince had 15 apiece and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-79 on Monday night for their fifth straight home win.
Detroit is 1-10 on the road but 5-3 at home, and the Pistons have recovered a bit after losing their first eight games of the season. They beat Phoenix by 40 last week in their previous home game, and the victory over Cleveland wasn’t really as close as the score indicated.
Detroit led 56-39 at halftime after holding the Cavaliers to 29 percent shooting.
Cleveland was without guard Dion Waiters, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavs.
The Cavaliers had scored 113 and 117 points in their previous two games, but the Pistons shut them down for the most part. Jason Maxiell and rookie Andre Drummond set the tone on a night Detroit would block 13 shots. The Cavs struggled to convert around the basket, and they went 3 of 20 from 3-point range.
A dunk by Maxiell put the Pistons ahead 14-4, and it was 30-17 after the first quarter.
Rodney Stuckey’s layup off a nice pass from Brandon Knight made it 49-27, and although Cleveland chipped away at the deficit, Stuckey’s floater to end the third quarter made it 75-63.
The Cavs cut it to six on two free throws by Varejao with 1:54 remaining, but they didn’t score again.
Varejao has nine straight double-doubles and at least 15 rebounds in each of those games. Cleveland had 33 second-chance points in Saturday’s 118-117 loss to Portland, but had only 14 against the Pistons.
Trail Blazers 118, Bobcats 112
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Luke Babbitt hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers and Portland overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Charlotte in overtime.
The Blazers trailed 97-79 with 5:17 left in regulation, but stormed back to tie the score and sent it into overtime on Babbitt’s 3 with 22 seconds left.
Charlotte had a chance to win at the end of regulation but Kemba Walker’s drive and fallaway jumper from the baseline didn’t fall.
Damian Lillard scored 24 points and Nicolas Batum added 17 points for the Blazers, who finished a road trip with two straight wins.
Ben Gordon set a franchise record with eight 3-pointers — all after halftime — for the Bobcats, who dropped their fourth straight game. Gordon finished with 29 points to surpass 10,000 for his NBA career.
Hornets 102, Bucks 81
NEW ORLEANS — Ryan Anderson scored 22 points, Robin Lopez added 21 and New Orleans won for only the second time in 11 games.
Lopez shot 8 of 10 from the field and made all five free throws he attempted. He also scored 11 straight points during a pivotal 13-0 run in the third quarter that gave New Orleans the lead for good.
Jason Smith added 12 points and Greivis Vasquez had 11 for the Hornets, who shot 52.4 percent (43 of 82).
Brandon Jennings hit five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points. Monta Ellis added 17 for Milwaukee, which shot 38.2 percent (29 of 76) from the field.
