DALLAS -- Andre Drummond bullied Dallas for 25 points and 17 rebounds, leading the Detroit Pistons to an important 102-96 win over the struggling Mavericks on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.

All five Detroit starters scored in double figures as the surging Pistons (33-31) moved into a virtual tie with the limping Chicago Bulls for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

In a game that was tight throughout, Drummond and the Pistons used an 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to go ahead 92-83. Dallas, which got 25 points and six assists from forward Chandler Parsons, including a driving dunk to cut the deficit to 93-89, still couldn't avoid dropping its fourth consecutive game, a season high.

With a chance to tie and less than 90 seconds to play, Chandler launched an airball from several feet behind the top of the 3-point arc. Detroit nearly coughed it up on its next possession when Dallas center Zaza Pachulia poked the ball away. However, Detroit point guard Reggie Jackson, who was having a horrible shooting night, buried a late-shot-clock 3-pointer to make it 98-92 with 58 seconds to go.

Jackson entered the game second in the league in clutch points, and he delivered once again with the improbable deep ball. That bucket, which Mavs coach Rick Carlisle afterward called a lucky shot, gave Jackson 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting, although he was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. He finished with 11 points and four assists.

Pistons forward Marcus Morris had a big game with 20 points and seven rebounds. Recently acquired forward Tobias Harris contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 14 points despite going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

"First, it's getting stops," said Pistons guard Steve Blake, who had seven points overall and was 3-for-3 from the floor in the fourth quarter, including a key 3-pointer. "I think we are most successful when we can get stops and run out and play in flow and make reads. And that is kind of what we did. We went out and I happened to get some open shots and make them. Some other guys were doing their thing. We're getting it from all areas. The starters are doing their thing. The guys off the bench are making plays, so it is fun to be a part of it when it is everybody."

The Mavs (33-32) fell further behind the sixth-place Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference standings. Dallas is now only percentage points ahead of the Houston Rockets for the No. 7 seed in the tight race at the bottom of the West playoff hunt.

Dallas had four players score in double figures, but Dirk Nowitzki, with 25 points, was the only one to join Parsons with more than 10 points, which is the total both Pachulia and Wesley Matthews managed. Deron Williams struggled to just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.

"Maybe it will make us take our level of play up to where we should be at," Matthews said. "We've got to get off this skid and stop the bleeding. We took a step in the right direction. We've been getting (beat) in transition points and we held them to 10 this game. We've got to put it all together. The competition is getting tougher."

The Mavs started the game hot from long range but completely fell apart in the second half to finish 9-for-30 from beyond the arc.

"We're having some bad luck, but in this situation you've got to make your luck," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "I don't fault our effort one single bit, but we just made some uncharacteristically loose plays with the ball a few times, we had some bad decision-making at key times. With the slim margin of error that we're working with to begin with, we just can't survive that. And Detroit's a good team. They're a very good team."

Detroit got down early, but kept in striking distance thanks to a 20-point, eight-rebound first half from Drummond, who finished the game 10-for-19 from the floor. His eruption came one game after Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan lit up the Mavs for 23 points and 20 rebounds.

"He was great," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said of Drummond. "Double-double at the half, he had a great night at the half. He was really, really good."

Drummond's productivity, which came despite going 4-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line in the opening half (5-of-14 in the game) as Dallas turned to intentionally fouling him in the second quarter, helped Detroit to a 54-52 lead halftime lead.

NOTES: The game was Dallas' 600th regular-season contest at the American Airlines Center. The Pistons also played in the Mavericks' first game at the AAC on Oct. 30, 2001. ... The Mavs have 15 home losses, one more than their total from last season. ... Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand Saturday against Indiana, and then plays 10 of its final 16 games on the road. ... Pistons G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope needs one 3-pointer to reach 300 for his career. ... Detroit hopes G Jodie Meeks, who hasn't played since the second game of the season because of a foot injury, will return at some point during the current four-game road trip. ... The Pistons' 33 victories are better than their win total from last year. They also matched last season's road win total (14). ... The Pistons started a four-game road trip Wednesday. The final three are against Eastern Conference teams. Detroit then begins a season-long nine-game homestand that will keep them at The Palace at Auburn Hills from March 16 through April 1.