Late rally pushes Pistons past LeBron, Cavs 104-99

We watched the Pistons feed Andre Drummond the ball in the post last season and throw up awkward looking hook shots or turn the ball over.

(On importance of tonight’s win):”It was a big win for us”.

DETROIT PISTONS CENTER ANDRE DRUMMOND: (On Reggie Jackson’s performance): “He did a really good job of attacking the defense and making them decide whether to guard him or to guard me”.

Jackson had 23 points and 12 assists for the Pistons, and Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points. J.R. Smith then missed a contested 3-pointer from near the top of the key. Are you all of a sudden going to pick out three games and then judge a team on these two or three games?

Detroit snapped a four-game losing streak despite giving up the first nine points of the second half. “They kind of relaxed, and I was headed up the left side of the floor with a head of steam”, LeBron James told reporters. “We need to get tougher, but I’m not talking about being an iron man. You have to be mentally tough, and that means performing at the best of your abilities at all times”. In his front office duties in Detroit, Van Gundy has been granted a wide financial berth by owner Tom Gores-one of those unicorn billionaires who’s eager to spend money on a sports team to make a community happier-in order to fast-track the Pistons back to relevance. The Cavs eventually led by as many as 13 points, with big shots by Kevin Love and Mo Williams.

It was Jackson who made three consecutive stops on James in the final minute and at the other end, drained six straight clutch free throws to ice the win.

Jackson missed a floater, but Cleveland’s Timofey Mozgov missed from the baseline and the Cavaliers had to foul.

He nailed a 7-foot floater two minutes into the game. “It’s always a rivalry”, he said.

The Pistons and Drummond agreed to not sign an extension before the November 2nd deadline in order to preserve cap space for the 2016 season. He was averaging 18.5 points and 19 rebounds per game before Tuesday’s match against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he is the first player since Abdul-Jabbar to have at least 185 points and 190 rebounds through the first 10 games of a season.

“We don’t pass”, Van Gundy said on the postgame show.

The Pistons will take part in the fifth annual Thanksgiving dinner at The Palace, where more than 750 meals will be served by coaches, players and staff. The Pistons wished they could have a lot of situations back from their last four games and hit bottom with a 97-85 loss at the lowly Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Detroit plays at Minnesota on Friday night.