Lopez led all scorers with 27 points, including seven points in the final 4:50.
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Drumond had what turned into the game-winning dunk with 1:30 left that made it 100-98 Detroit.
It was looking like one of those games that the team played well enough to win on offense, but terrible defense would cost them a much-needed win. “When we’re getting looks were taking them”.
Van Gundy was happy with the win and the performance of Drummond, who recently was named as a reserve in the East’s All-Star team, though he said he still has a way to go.
Lopez said of Drummond, “I didn’t do a great job with Drummond”.
“It’s tough”, Lopez said of the tipped game-winning shot. “But it was something that was a focus tonight”.
Interim coach Tony Brown has filled in since Lionel Hollins’ firing, and assistant GM Frank Zanin is the man to execute any moves – for now.
And they struggled guarding the point guard-power forward pick-and-roll, leaving Andrea Bargnani (18 points) open repeatedly for easy midrange jumpers. “Drummond is a load”. Drummond is a notoriously bad free-throw shooter and went 1-of-9 from the line on Saturday as Detroit fell just short at Toronto in a 111-107 setback.
Brooklyn led by three before Jackson tied it with a 3-pointer with 2:05 to go.
After missing Saturday’s loss to the Raptors with a sore thigh, Ersan Ilyasova returned to the starting lineup on Monday and scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Andre Drummond had a dominant third by devouring offensive rebounds to make up for some questionable shots.
After a first half that saw the Pistons surrender 57 points, Stan Van Gundy’s crew turned matters around after intermission, fighting back from a three-point deficit to earn a 10-point advantage following an off-the-backboard delivery to Drummond from the hands of Brandon Jennings.
Drummond is putting up big numbers, averaging 17.2 points and 15.0 rebounds per game, while Lopez is having a quality season with averages of 20.1 points and 8.5 rebounds. Bill Laimbeer had 61 such games, most by a Piston since the 1985-86 season. Lopez managed 28 of the team’s 79 points in a loss at Dallas the previous night and has recorded four straight double-doubles, only one of which came in a victory.
Jackson’s final shot was a high-arcing floater that he swished over Shane Larkin and a fast-closing Lopez to make it 104-100 with 14.9 seconds left. “I think that’s something we just all have to keep doing”. “We’re just not. We played eight minutes, nine minutes of pretty good defense today”. “You know, we’re a playoff team, and you know, we’ve just got to rack up some wins”.
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Friday against Cleveland, Drummond’s frustration boiled over to the point that he got into a heated verbal exchange with a fan who’d been telling him to shoot his free throws underhanded. I think one play out of the timeout, we got Brook deep in the paint and he got a dunk and we had another wrinkle for that the second time we ran it but we could never get to it. Next thing you know, Joe (Johnson) is stuck with the ball, Brook is trying to post up on the sideline and the weak side action that we had drawn up never came into play.
