Lillard's Shot Lifts Blazers Over Pistons In OT
NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Damian Lillard's spinning fadeaway with one-tenth of a second left in overtime lifted the Portland Trail Blazers to a 111-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
Lillard was guarded well by Rodney Stuckey as he tried to drive to the basket, but he was able to hit a tough fadeaway from about 8 feet for the win. Detroit couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points for Portland, which rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Lillard finished with 23 points.
Josh Smith scored 31 points, his most since signing with the Pistons as a free agent in the offseason.
Moments before Lillard's winner, Rodney Stuckey tied the game for Detroit with a shot from near the free throw line. Portland, which made 21 shots from 3-point range in Saturday's rout of Philadelphia, went 7 of 26 on Sunday.
The Blazers trailed by 13 early in the fourth, but cut the deficit to 94-92 before Smith scored on the block while being fouled by Wesley Matthews. The three-point play pushed the lead to five, but Detroit couldn't close out the game.
Wesley Matthews finally tied it with two free throws with 30.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Detroit had the ball with 1.1 seconds left, but Kyle Singler's inbounds pass was stolen, sending the game to overtime.
The Blazers led by 11 early in the second quarter, but Detroit rallied behind Smith and fellow big men Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond to take a 51-50 lead into halftime.
Smith is shooting under 27 percent from 3-point range this season, and the presence of Monroe and Drummond has seemed only to encourage him to shoot more from the perimeter. But he attempted only two 3s on Sunday, and the Blazers couldn't handle him in the post for most of the night.
Smith's old-fashioned three-point play made it 75-66 in the third, and Detroit led 84-73 heading into the final period.
Detroit outscored Portland 68-42 in the paint, but the Blazers held the Pistons to 15 points in the fourth quarter and slowly chipped away at the lead.
Nicolas Batum scored 18 points for the Blazers, who fought Detroit's tough front line almost evenly on the boards.
NOTES: The Blazers missed their first six 3-point attempts. ... Smith shot 13 of 17 from the field. Drummond had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
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