The Detroit Pistons swept their season series with the Portland Trailblazers, winning 120-113 behind a career-high 37 points from Marcus Morris.
There’s just something about the Portland Trailblazers that brings out the Detroit Pistons flair for the dramatic.
First there was November 2015’s epic fourth quarter comeback. Then there was January’s double-overtime thriller. Then, on Tuesday night, Detroit completed the season sweep against the Blazers, winning 120-113 in a wild game capped by Marcus Morris and Ish Smith outscoring Portland 11-4 in overtime.
Morris was absolutely filthy for the Pistons, notching eight rebounds and six assists to go along with his career-high 37 points. Andre Drummond added 19 points and 15 assists, while the always clutch Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 16 points after a quiet start.
Damian Lillard (39 points) and C.J. McCollum (25 points) led the way for the Blazers.
It was a familiar formula for the Pistons: fall behind early, scratch and claw back into the mix during the middle quarters, then mount a furious comeback in the fourth. With eight minutes remaining in regulation, they pulled ahead, 87-85, for their first lead since 2-0.
After that, madness ensued.
The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the fourth quarter. Detroit led by as many as eight, 104-96, with 4:26 remaining. The Blazers forced Stan Van Gundy to pull Drummond around the four-minute mark, then took advantage of his absence with an 11-1 run to tie the game at 105. Marcus Morris matched two Jusef Nurkic free throws, then Caldwell-Pope hit a clutch 16-footer to give the Pistons the lead, 109-107.
With ten seconds remaining, Caldwell-Pope missed a 15-footer and was hit with a technical for complaining about the lack of a foul called on the play. Lillard missed the technical free throw, and his layup with two seconds remaining only tied the game instead of giving Portland the lead.
Marcus Morris missed a potential game-winning fallaway, but more than made up for it by scoring Detroit’s first seven points in overtime. Ish Smith notched two clutch steals and hit two mid-range jumpers to seal the deal.
After a horrific shooting start, Detroit finished 43.3 percent from the field. The Blazers, who led by as many as 14 in the first quarter, shot 54.2 percent.
Starting point guard Reggie Jackson spelled Ish Smith with 6:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and played well offensively, setting Andre Drummond up with a clutch alley-oop to give Detroit a 102-94 lead. But after stringing together a series of poor defensive possessions, he was pulled along with Drummond later in the fourth.
Jackson, the starter, was -9 with ten points and four assists. Smith, the closer, was +16 with 12 points, seven assists and seven steals.
The Pistons travel to face the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. tomorrow night.