AUBURN HILLS, MICH. -- Tobias Harris led a balanced offense with 22 points and Andre Drummond had 18 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-91 Wednesday night.
Playing in front of a tiny crowd because of a snowstorm in metro Detroit, the Pistons led by 16 points in the first quarter and were never threatened while winning their second straight after a five-game losing streak.
Hollis Thompson scored 19 points to lead the 76ers, who lost their sixth straight. Jahlil Okafor had 13 points, but just two rebounds. No other Philadelphia starter had more than eight points.
The Pistons were short-handed, thanks to injuries to Anthony Tolliver (knee) and Stanley Johnson (shoulder), leaving them without an established reserve scorer.
35
However, Reggie Bullock came off the bench to score 16 points while playing with a mask to protect his broken nose. Bullock came into the game with six points this season 1-of-19 shooting.
Detroit led by 23 points at halftime, and increased the advantage to 30 midway through the third quarter.
Still, the Pistons' Stan Van Gundy didn't stop coaching. After a turnover by Reggie Jackson and a layup by Ish Smith pulled Philadelphia to 76-48, he angrily called a timeout to scream at his players.
It didn't make much of a difference — Van Gundy continued to rage at his players' lack of focus even as the Sixers failed to make any kind of serious run. It was 85-61 at the end of the third quarter, and the Pistons cruised to the win.
Detroit had six players in double figures, with Aron Baynes (nine) just missing out on making it seven.
Detroit dominated early, as Brett Brown's big-m
The Hornets' combo of Noel and Okafor was unable to stop a Pistons lineup that could switch Harris and Marcus Morris between small forward and power forward. Brown quickly tried a more traditional combination, but neither player could do much against Drummond.
Drummond had eight points and 10 rebounds in the first quarter, and got most of the second period off as Detroit pulled away. It was 65-42 at the half, with Harris having put up 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting. The Pistons outshot the 76ers 52 percent to 35 percent.
TIP-INS
76ers: Robert Covington ended the first quarter with a 55-foot 3-pointer, letting fly from his own 3-point line. It was the second Hail Mary buzzer-beater of the month at the Palace, following Drummond's arena-record 70-footer.
Pistons: Justin Harper was in uniform for the first time after signing a 10-day contract with the Pistons, while Joel Anthony was back after going to Houston and Philadelphia after part of the failed trade that would have brought Marcus Thornton and Donatus Motiejunas to Detroit.
UP NEXT
76ers: Host Washington on Friday.
Pistons: At Milwaukee on Saturday.
