The Pistons and Houston Rockets were both short-handed Saturday in a match-up between potential playoff teams, but they provided an entertaining contest in Detroit.
Tobias Harris, an underrated forward, led the Pistons to a 108-101 win by scoring a game-high 27 points with eight rebounds. Detroit Pistons, playing without both Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson due to injuries, still had six players score at least 10 points.
Ish Smith, normally just a distributor, stepped into the Pistons' starting lineup to score 17 points with four assists and three rebounds. Dwight Buycks came off the bench to score 16 points.
Saturday's report: 76ers extends win streak to four games
The Rockets, still without MVP-candidate James Harden, has now lost seven of its last nine games. Chris Paul led the way Saturday with 16 points and 13 rebounds, but it lacked its usual offensive bite without Harden.
With the win, the Pistons moved to seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Rockets is still second in the West, but now four games behind the Warriors.
STUD OF THE NIGHT
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry electrified fans by scoring 45 points on 11-of-21 shooting (8 of 16 from 3-point range) with six rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 121-105 win over the Clippers. Curry has now scored at least 29 points in all four games since returning from an ankle injury.
DUD OF THE NIGHT
The Bulls: Getting trounced 125-86 is bad enough, but Chicago scored just 37 first-half points while finishing the game shooting just 37.5 percent from the field. Only four Bulls scored in double figures, and no one eclipsed Bobby Portis' 15 points.
HIGHLIGHT
Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum finished with 14 points in Boston's 87-85 win over the Nets, including a rampaging drunk through the lane.
WHAT'S NEXT
Spurs (27-13) at Trail Blazers (20-18) — After the final two wild-card NFL playoff games conclude, sports fans can jump over to the NBA, where two playoff contending Western Conference teams face off in an intriguing matchup. Damian Lillard is back for Portland, healthy after a five-game absence. The Spurs is nearing full health, with Kawhi Leonard ramping up his minutes.
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