Vasquez leads Hornets past Pistons

Greivis Vasquez capped a 25-point, nine-assist performance by hitting a running floater off the backboard with 12 seconds left, and the New Orleans Hornets beat the Detroit Pistons 100-95 on Friday night to snap a two-game skid.

 

Eric Gordon added 21 points and Ryan Anderson 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets, who were short-handed in the frontcourt with starting forward Anthony Davis sitting out his second straight game because of a sprained left shoulder.

 

New Orleans native Greg Monroe had 27 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit, while Brandon Knight added 22 points, including a 3-pointer that tied the score at 91.

 

Vasquez's final basket made it 98-95, and Rodney Stuckey missed a 3-point attempt that could have tied it in the final seconds.

 

New Orleans closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by Anderson's second 3, to take a 74-69 lead.

 

New Orleans was still ahead 91-84 when Gordon scored inside, but Detroit responded with a 9-0 run that Knight began with a driving layup. Jason Maxiell then dunked, Knight came back with his tying 3 and Monroe dunked to give the Pistons a 93-91 lead with 1:58 left.

 

Vasquez then hit two free throws to tie it, Gordon added another  free throw and then Anderson used a perimeter fake to set up a driving layup that made it 96-93. Maxiell had a chance to tie it when he dunked as he was fouled, but he missed the free throw, allowing Vasquez to put New Orleans up by three again with his late floater.

 

The Pistons wound up shooting 50 percent (39 of 78), scoring 56 points in the paint. But the Pistons also turned the ball over 14 times, were outrebounded 47-40 and were outscored at the free-throw line, 23-10.

 

The game was competitive throughout, with Detroit building the largest lead of either team at 10 points in the first quarter. There were 12 ties and nine lead changes.

 

Al-Farouq Aminu had 14 rebounds and Robin Lopez scored 10 points for New Orleans. Maxiell and Kyle Singler each scored 10 for Detroit, while Jose Calderon had 11 assists.

 

New Orleans struggled throughout the game to stop Monroe, who helped Detroit take a 14-4 in the opening five minutes with strong inside baskets to the delight of a large contingent of fans in his hometown.

 

Detroit maintained the lead into the second quarter, going ahead 33-25 on Stuckey's fast-break layup.

 

New Orleans then surged ahead for the first time with a 10-0 run highlighted by Vasquez's three-point play and Anderson's 3-pointer.

 

Gordon had 18 of his points in the opening half, including six free throws, the last of which put the Hornets up 45-40.

 

The Pistons' however, took a 49-47 lead into halftime after scoring the last five points of the period, including Monroe's putback after he'd grabbed two offensive rebounds in the same possession.