National Basketball Association
Washington 105, Detroit 101
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, April 10, 2017
Where: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan
Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #71 Rodney Mott, #28 Kevin Scott
Attendance: 21012

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Bradley Beal and Markieff Morris wouldn't let the Detroit Pistons close their building on a high note.

The duo scored the Wizards' last 15 points, and Washington ruined the Pistons' final game at The Palace of Auburn Hills with a 105-101 victory on Monday night.

Wizards coach Scott Brooks inserted them into the game with 4:47 remaining and his club clinging to a two-point lead.

"Coach wanted to ruin their going-away party, so he threw me back out there and I just closed it out," said Beal, who poured in 33 points. "Credit to my teammates. We all did a terrific job throughout the game. We had some letups in the third and fourth quarter, but we did a good job of executing down the stretch."

Morris supplied 20 points and eight rebounds, and Tomas Satoransky added 11 points for the Wizards (49-32). They had lost four of their previous six games and were disappointed with the way they finished a 106-103 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday.

With his team locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, Brooks sat All-Star point guard John Wall as well as small forward Otto Porter Jr. The combination of Beal and Morris was enough to deliver a bounce-back win.

"We played extra hard for the entire game," Brooks said. "Our guys competed even when things didn't go well for us for a five- or six-minute stretch in that third quarter. We still battled and fought and came away with a win.

"It was basically off of teamwork and effort. I'm real happy with our guys because a lot of them haven't been in that situation and they made a lot of key plays."

The Wizards were well aware this game carried a little extra meaning to the Pistons fans. The team is moving to the new downtown Little Caesars Arena next season.

Many of the team's past stars were in attendance and received standing ovations from the crowd during a halftime ceremony.

"(I noticed) when I was shooting before the game," Beal said. "You see blue T-shirts everywhere and you see legends walking through the building. The fans were super excited. They wanted a win really bad."

The current group of Pistons couldn't deliver one in the home finale. They trailed by 13 after the first quarter and played catchup most of the way.

"If you look at the thing, the whole game was the first quarter," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "After that, we played really well. But the first quarter -- we've had that a lot this year -- people just come out and jump on us early."

Tobias Harris' 22 points led the Pistons (37-44). Ish Smith contributed 16 points and nine assists, Marcus Morris added 12 points, and Reggie Bullock chipped in 11 points for Detroit. The Pistons had 55 bench points.

"I thought the unit that played during that stretch in the second half was tremendous," Van Gundy said. "They brought really good energy. Tobias brought really good energy to the game and played really hard."

Beal scored eight points during a 14-2 Washington run to close out the first quarter, giving it that 13-point lead. Detroit didn't make up any ground in the second quarter, trailing 55-42 at halftime.

The Pistons chipped away in the third quarter and pulled within six at 79-73 on Harris' 3-pointer in the final minute of the quarter. A few more 3-pointers by Stanley Johnson and Bullock in the early stages of the fourth tied the score.

Back-to-back layups by Beal put the Wizards up by six again at 94-88 with 4:09 left. Markieff Morris tossed in a jumper to make it an eight-point game. Harris responded with a three-point play and a 3-pointer to bring Detroit within two.

Markieff Morris hit two more jumpers, sandwiching a Bullock 3-pointer, to give the Wizards a 100-97 edge. Beal doubled the lead with a three-point play with 34.1 seconds left.

After Detroit came within two points again, Beal sealed the win with two free throws.

NOTES: Pistons PG Beno Udrih will require six to eight weeks of recovery after injuring a knee against Memphis on Sunday. "It's unfortunate," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. "He was playing really, really well and in this stretch where we're playing a lot of guys who haven't played a lot, to have a guy out there who could really organize things was really helpful." ... Detroit was 732-431 in regular-season games played at The Palace and 75-32 in playoff games. ... Washington PG John Wall had missed just two games this season before getting rested on Monday. .... Detroit finishes its season at Orlando on Wednesday. Washington plays at Miami the same night before hosting postseason games this weekend. ... The Wizards have won six of the past nine games in the series.
Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Detroit
Bradley Beal 33 Scoring Tobias Harris 22
Brandon Jennings 6 Assists Ish Smith 9
Ian Mahinmi 11 Rebounds Boban Marjanovic 8
Kelly Oubre Jr. 6 Free Throws Made Tobias Harris 3
Brandon Jennings 5 Steals Andre Drummond 2
Ian Mahinmi 2 Blocks Andre Drummond 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Washington 105 50.6 7-19 14-16 27 48 5 8 17
Detroit 101 45.7 10-26 5-5 22 36 2 9 10
Upcoming Games
  • Detroit will play their next game on the road against Orlando. The Pistons have a W/L % of .405 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game on the road against Miami. The Wizards have a W/L % of .592 after a win and .625 after a loss.