Cavaliers 97, Pistons 96: Dion Waiters buried a buzzer-beater to cap a 10-0 run over the final three minutes as visiting Cleveland rallied to stun Detroit.
Matthew Dellavedova scored a career-high 21 points of the bench, Waiters added 18 and Jarrett Jack scored 11 of his 17 in the fourth quarter for the Cavaliers, who have won three straight. Anderson Varejao added 12 points and 16 rebounds in a reserve role as Cleveland pulled within 3 1/2 games of Atlanta for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Josh Smith collected 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Pistons, who have lost six of their last seven. Kyle Singler scored 18 points and Brandon Jennings tallied 17 points and 13 assists.
The Pistons led 96-87 after Singler's jumper with 3:38 left, but they went 0-for-5 from the field the rest of the way as Cleveland stormed back. Jack scored eight straight points to pull the Cavaliers within 96-95, and Waiters took an inbounds pass from Luol Deng in the right corner and drained a high-arcing shot over Rodney Stuckey for the win.
It was the second surge of the game for the Cavaliers, who fell behind by 14 early but clawed within 51-50 at halftime. Detroit stretched it back out with a big third quarter, taking an 82-66 lead into the final stanza before the fourth-quarter meltdown.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cleveland's Tyler Zeller and Detroit's Andre Drummond were issued double technicals after getting tangled up in the second quarter. … The Cavaliers have won two straight meetings after losing seven straight in the series. … Waiters has averaged 22.8 points in six games since PG Kyrie Irving went out with a strained biceps tendon.
Cleveland | Detroit | |
Matthew Dellavedova 21 | Scoring | Josh Smith 24 |
Matthew Dellavedova 6 | Assists | Brandon Jennings 13 |
Anderson Varejao 16 | Rebounds | Andre Drummond 11 |
Tristan Thompson 6 | Free Throws Made | Will Bynum 2 |
Matthew Dellavedova 1 | Steals | Brandon Jennings 2 |
Spencer Hawes 1 | Blocks | Josh Smith 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Cleveland | 97 | 43.5 | 9-26 | 14-24 | 18 | 45 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
Detroit | 96 | 46.4 | 11-26 | 7-13 | 27 | 48 | 5 | 5 | 13 |