HOUSTON (AP) — Luke Kennard scored 22 points, Derrick Rose added 20 off the bench and the Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets 115-107 on Saturday night.
The Pistons didn’t trail in the last two quarters and were up by double figures for most of the second half.
Houston used a 9-2 run, with a 3 from Chris Clemons, to cut the lead to 112-107 with 41 seconds remaining. But Tony Snell made two free throws after that and Bruce Brown made one of two free throws after a miss by Houston to secure the victory.
James Harden led the Rockets with 39 points after two straight 50-point games, but it wasn’t enough to keep Houston’s winning streak going on a night Russell Westbrook sat out to rest. Harden played 38 1/2 minutes, but was taken out with 1:23 left and didn’t return.
Rose had 12 assists, Bruce Brown had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Markieff Morris added 15 points as the Pistons won for the third time in four games.
The Rockets used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 8 with two minutes left. But Detroit got baskets from Rose and Kennard after that to push the lead to 110-98 with about 90 seconds to go.
Detroit led by 12 after a 6-0 run capped by two dunks from Brown before the Rockets used a 7-2 spurt to get within 98-91 with about five minutes left. An 8-2 run by the Pistons, with the last six points from Rose, came next to push the lead to 106-93 with 3 1/2 minutes to go.
The Pistons led by 10 at halftime and opened the second half with a 7-2 run to push the lead to 69-54 with about eight minutes left in the third.
Detroit was still up by 15 later in the third quarter before the Rockets made the next eight points, with six from Harden, to cut it to 80-73 with three minutes left in the quarter.
But the Pistons scored the next six points, with a 3 from Morris, to push the lead to 86-73 with about a minute left in the third.
Detroit led 88-75 entering the fourth.
TIP-INS
Pistons: F Blake Griffin didn’t return after halftime because of a sore left knee. ... Christian Wood had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Rockets: C Tyson Chandler missed his fifth straight game with flu-like symptoms. ... Harden received a technical foul in the first quarter for chirping at the officials after not getting a foul call on a 3-point attempt. ... Saturday snapped a streak of a franchise-record 10 straight games where the Rockets scored at least 115 points.
UP NEXT
Pistons: Host Washington on Monday night.
Rockets: Host San Antonio on Monday night.
