Det. 116, Houston 105: Jackson lifts Pistons over Rockets

Detroit Pistons fans might just have to accept that it will be a bumpy ride this season.

There was nearly a quarter remaining against the Houston Rockets and a 28-point lead was down to four with almost an entire quarter remaining.

But Reggie Jackson scored 14 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth as the Pistons held off the Rockets for a needed 116-105 victory.

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The Pistons (9-9) moved back to .500 and opened a four-game home stand with a needed victory.

Jackson added eight assists and four steals and shot 11-for-18 from the field.

The Pistons kept their poise and avoided an embarrassing loss.

Jackson didn't agree with the assessment that it was character-building.

"That wasn't the good part," Jackson said. "We still held them at bay. We had a double-digit lead for a long time, but we have to do better. We let them come back, but we found a way to stay afloat and found a way to come out victorious. Just in general, it's a young team, we have to figure out a way to shut teams out when we have a chance and put them away."

Andre Drummond (24 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots) won the matchup against Rockets center Dwight Howard (eight points, 10 rebounds, four blocks). Limited by first-half foul trouble, Drummond only played a little over 27 minutes.

But the game was major setback at the free-throw line for Drummond as the Rockets (7-11) used the strategy of fouling the poor free throw shooter. He was 4-for-18 from the line. The 14 missed free throws were one shy of the franchise record set by Ben Wallace.

Drummond missed nine of 12 during a two-minute stretch of the third quarter.

They only lost two points of a 20-point lead during the stretch so did Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy consider leaving Drummond in the game?

"I don't know. You don't play any defense, and you get the ball back right away," Van Gundy said. "It's like a player's dream. All you get to do is play offense, and you're not using any energy on defense. You just grab somebody, go stand on the line and go get the ball back.

"We had to make the change. I don't want to make the change."

Rookie Stanley Johnson had probably the best game of his young career with 19 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double. He was 4-for-5 from three-point land.

Pistons' Johnson getting more comfortable offensively

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope harassed Rockets star James Harden into a 6-for-15 shooting night, although Harden did finish with 29 points. He was 15-for-17 from the free-throw line as the Rockets fell to 7-11.

It was a rare good night for the Pistons' offense as the team shot 52.9% from the field. The effort came the night after the Pistons' four-point loss at Brooklyn on Sunday. Afterward, a frustrated Jackson implored his team to relax and just "take your shot."

The team answered his call.

"We took it to heart," Johnson said of Jackson's instructions. "He is our leader. I think the majority of that stuff is just being comfortable running the stuff that we know we can go with … when Reggie's doing what he's doing tonight, being aggressive and making plays. It's a fine line he doesn't want to cross in not being too aggressive and not being too passive. When he's on that line and making plays like that it's easy for everybody."

Drummond picked up two careless fouls early – the second coming at the 9:10 mark of the first quarter.

But backup center Aron Baynes sparked the Pistons.

His put-back off an offensive rebound gave the Pistons a 9-6 lead at the 8:21 mark.

His hook shot off a Marcus Morris assist gave the Pistons 17-15 lead. Morris finished with a season-high six assists to go along with 12 points.

Baynes finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

But Jackson was the dominant player early.

He took advantage of a careless pass from Howard for a steal and he went coast-to-coast for a two-handed dunk to give the Pistons a 29-19 lead with 18.7 remaining in the first quarter.

The Pistons kept pouring it on in the second quarter and took a 60-32 lead on a Jackson triple with 2:14 left in the second quarter.

The Pistons settled for a 64-41 halftime lead.

Contact Vince Ellis at vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.

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