DETROIT – There were no shortage of candidates to be first on the marquee, but it’s always better to get fourth billing in a win than star in a loss. And so the Pistons – in a rematch with Houston, two nights after losing by two on the road, a circumstance that made it feel like a playoff game, amplified by a playoff-like atmosphere – won, indeed.
They won because Reggie Jackson scored 18 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, recalling the Jackson of 2015-16 before leg injuries wrecked his past two seasons.
They won because Andre Drummond recorded his sixth 20-20 in the season’s first 16 games and ruined at least a half-dozen Houston possessions with three steals and five blocked shots.