Field Level Media
Mar 26, 2018
Reggie Jackson led a balanced attack with 20 points, and the Detroit Pistons won for the fourth time in five games by topping the Los Angeles Lakers 112-106 on Monday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Jackson, playing just his fourth game since recovering from a severe ankle sprain, added five rebounds and three assists. Reggie Bullock scored 16 points and Andre Drummond had 15 points and 18 rebounds for Detroit, which retains slim playoff hopes.
Blake Griffin tossed in 15 points while battling foul trouble, and reserve forward Anthony Tolliver also scored 15. Backup point guard Ish Smith chipped in 12.
Julius Randle paced the Lakers with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Forward Kyle Kuzma contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds, and fellow rookie Lonzo Ball posted 15 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists for the Lakers.
Brook Lopez had 14 points and nine assists and Kentavious Caldwell Pope added 13 points, but the Lakers only got 21 points from their bench.
The Lakers were missing two of their top players. Isaiah Thomas sat out with a sore right hip while small forward Brandon Ingram missed his 12th consecutive game because of a groin injury. Thomas left the team to fly to New York for further evaluation on his hip.
Detroit scored 10 unanswered points spanning the third and fourth quarters to take an 84-76 lead. Tolliver had a pair of 3-pointers and Smith had a basket and an assist during that span.
The lead was nine after Luke Kennard hit a jumper with nine minutes left. The Lakers then made a run, and when Randle converted a three-point play, they were down just 93-90.
Griffin then started a 6-1 Pistons spurt with a dunk, pushed their lead to eight. Griffin and Jackson soon hit back-to-back threes to make it 105-93 with under three minutes left.
Los Angeles tried to intentionally foul Drummond to creep back into the game, but Drummond made four straight free throws to scuttle that strategy.
The Lakers, who won the first meeting 113-93 in Los Angeles on Oct. 31, led 55-53 at halftime. They were up by as much as 10, but the Pistons narrowed the gap before the intermission.
--Field Level Media