Drummond’s winning tip-in keeps Pistons in thick of playoff race
The race for the East’s final few playoff spots has been a crowded one for the vast majority of this season, and that situation looks likely to persist into the final few weeks of the regular season. The Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Detroit Pistons entered Monday’s games separated by a half-game while fighting for just two postseason berths. That’s the kind of margin that can be decided by a few turns of luck in either direction.
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The Pistons got a few fortunate turns late against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. Down 74-65 to start the fourth and 91-90 after a Reggie Jackson lay-up with 18 seconds remaining, Detroit looked in need of serious help to get a win or force overtime. They got that assistance nine seconds later when Jerryd Bayless, a career 82.5 percent shooter, missed two freebies to give the host Pistons the opportunity to win with any bucket. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s three-point attempt missed, but offensive rebounder extraordinaire Andre Drummond was there to clean it up:
The Bucks didn’t get an official attempt off in the closing seconds to complete the 92-91 win for the Pistons. Drummond finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds, but Marcus Morris was the top offensive performer with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
The win was an important one for Milwaukee after the Bulls and Pacers dispatched inferior opponents elsewhere Monday. Detroit is still technically in ninth place, but they are in a virtual tie with Chicago and trail Indiana by a half-game. The Pistons also stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of the Wizards, who won at the Atlanta Hawks.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
