Jalen Duren scored 33 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and the host Detroit Pistons rallied from a nine-point deficit late in regulation to win 122-119 in overtime against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Cade Cunningham supplied 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out in regulation. Ausar Thompson had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Ron Holland scored 12 points. Tobias Harris added 11 points with five rebounds, five assists and six steals.
Jarrett Allen’s 25 points and nine rebounds led the Cavaliers. Evan Mobley contributed 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Sam Merrill had 20 points.
Cleveland played without its starting backcourt. Leading scorer Donovan Mitchell sat out with a right groin strain, while James Harden missed the contest with a right thumb fracture.
The Pistons scored the first six points of overtime. Cleveland narrowed the gap to one, but Duren stole the ball and Harris hit a turnaround jumper to make it 122-119 with 21.9 seconds remaining. Merrill and Mobley missed potential tying 3-pointers in the final seconds.
The Cavaliers led for most of the first half and ended with a 54-50 halftime lead. Allen led the Cavs with 13 points, while Cunningham kept his team close with 17 points.
A bizarre delay occurred with 7:24 remaining in the third quarter and the Pistons up 65-64. The horn went off and wouldn’t stop for at least 10 minutes. The teams were allowed to warm up again before play resumed after an 18-minute delay.
When Allen dunked with 2:44 remaining, Cleveland led 107-98. The Pistons then started their rally. Duncan Robinson sparked it with a 3-pointer. Thompson and Harris each scored breakaway dunks off steals, with the latter drawing Cleveland’s lead down to 109-107.
Dennis Schroder made a layup with 36 seconds left for a 112-109 Cleveland lead. Duren cut it to one with a putback dunk.
Cleveland then missed two of four free throws, and Daniss Jenkins was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 4.7 seconds remaining. He made all three free throws to tie the game at 114 apiece and send it to overtime.
