Mavericks buried early by Pistons in Detroit

Reggie Jackson scored 22 points, Jon Leuer added 20 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Dallas Mavericks 98-91 Wednesday night.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points, Tobias Harris 13 and Ish Smith 10 for the Pistons, who led by 27 points at halftime before holding on for the win. Detroit outrebounded Dallas 56-36, led by Marcus Morris’ 13, Andre Drummond’s 11 and Aron Baynes’ 11.

Dirk Nowitzki had 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter to help the Mavericks rally. Dallas pulled within eight early in the fourth. Nowitzki also had 10 rebounds. Harrison Barnes added 16 points, Seth Curry had 13 and Deron Williams 12.

The Pistons never trailed, taking a 10-0 lead to start the game, making 52.1 percent of their shots in the first half and leading 62-35 at the break. However, Dallas outscored Detroit 56-36 in the second half, with Williams’ 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left providing the final margin.

Leuer scored 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting in December’s victory at Dallas, but the Mavericks must have forgotten.

Leuer scored eight points — with four free throws — in the first quarter, as the Pistons took a 27-17 lead into the second quarter.

The Pistons blazed away at a 58.3 percent shooting in the second quarter in scoring 35 points to outscore the Mavericks by 17.

Nowitzki dazzled the crowd with a quick 13 points on three triples early in the second half to key the Mavericks’ comeback.

Before the game, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was asked about the negative aura surrounding his team.

He reminded reporters the Pistons were only one game behind the pace from last season when they were considered a young and up-and-coming team.

He realizes that expectations play a large role in that perception.

“It’s a really about perception and everything else,” Van Gundy said. “Last year at this time we were one game better than what we are right now.

“One game better and the feel was totally different. Last year at 27-29, everything was positive and now at 26-30 everything is negative. I get it because the expectations were higher, but those are all the things that sort of change the dynamics and you have to deal with and learn to overcome it. That’s part of the development of a team to learn to deal with those things.”

Tip-ins

Mavericks: It was the final appearance at the Palace for coach Rick Carlisle, who coached the Pistons from 2001-03 and was the Pacers’ coach the night of the infamous brawl at the arena in 2004. “It’s going to be hard to imagine coming here and not coming to Auburn Hills to play,” he said before the game. “But it sounds like the new arena (in downtown Detroit) is going to be very nice.” The Pistons move to Little Caesars Arena next season.

Pistons: Leuer now has 2,000 points for his career. … Drummond had nine points in 19 minutes, ending his streak of five straight double-doubles.

Up next

Mavericks: Host Minnesota on Feb. 24.

Pistons: Host Charlotte on Feb. 23.

This report contain material from the Detroit Free Press.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Mavericks buried early by Pistons in Detroit."