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Pistons jump out to early lead, rout Suns to continue hot start

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DETROIT -- Reggie Jackson scored 23 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Phoenix Suns 131-107 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory.

Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley each scored 20 points, and Andre Drummondhad 13 points and matched a career best with seven assists in Detroit's highest-scoring game of the season. The Pistons improved to 14-6 overall, 8-2 at home in their first season at Little Caesars Arena, and 7-1 against the Western Conference.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 22 points, and rookie Josh Jackson had a career-high 20. Phoenix has lost four out of five and is 1-2 on a six-game trip.

The Suns were coming off a 104-99 victory in Chicago on Tuesday night, while Detroit had Tuesday off after a 10-point victory in Boston.

Harris scored 14 points and the Pistons had a season-best 36 points in the first quarter. Detroit shot 62.5 percent in the period to build a 17-point lead.

Phoenix continued to struggle in the second, falling behind by 32 points. Detroit led 69-41 at halftime, outshooting the Suns 63 percent to 44.7 percent. Harris had 16 points in the half, and Reggie Jackson added 15.

The Pistons led by as many as 36 in the second half.

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Suns: One night after using 7-footers Tyson Chandler and Dragan Bender as his starting center and power forward in Chicago, Suns coach Jay Triano changed things against the Pistons. Marquese Chriss and former Piston Greg Monroestarted, while Chandler didn't enter the game until the fourth quarter.

Pistons: Drummond hit all three free-throw attempts against Phoenix, and is shooting 63 percent from the line this season. Drummond entered the season as the worst free-throw shooter in NBA history, having made 38.1 percent of his attempts over five seasons.

UP NEXT

Suns: At Boston on Saturday.

Pistons: At Washington on Friday night.