Pistons extend winning streak with victory over Spurs

SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs’ inbounds pass around the mid-court area, from forward Tim Duncan, was a little behind the intended receiver, bouncing off guard Patty Mills’ hands with eight seconds left.

Now, Detroit point guard Brandon Jennings was racing up court with the ball. Jennings hit a bank shot with one-tenth of a second remaining, giving the Pistons a 105-104 victory Tuesday night.

Detroit has won six straight games, improving to 11-23 after a 3-19 start. They had to overcome an 18-point second-quarter deficit to win this one.

“We’re getting better,” Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I think tonight proved it. We showed really good resolve to stay with the game. We got lucky at the end. But you have to be down one on the road to have that break happen.”

Center Andre Drummond led Detroit with 20 points and 17 rebounds, seven of them on offense, where the Pistons scored 28 second-chance points.

Forward Greg Monroe had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and backup point guard D.J. Augustin scored 19 points. Augustin played so well that Van Gundy felt badly replacing him with Jennings, the starter, with 3:14 left in the game. Augustin hit 8 of 18 shots, while Jennings hit 4 of 17 before the game winner.

“My shot wasn’t falling, but I stuck with it,” Jennings said.

Reserve forward Jeff Ayres led the Spurs (21-15) with 16 points, and Duncan added 15 points and seven rebounds. But Duncan played just eight minutes in the second half. Coach Gregg Popovich’s only explanation for that was he made other choices.

San Antonio went ahead by three with four minutes remaining on a 3-point basket by guard Manu Ginobili, the Spurs’ fifth of the fourth quarter.

But the Spurs missed six free throws during the final 3:14.

Detroit guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made a driving shot with 2:12 left. Pistons guard Jodie Meeks was intentionally fouled and hit two free throws right before that bad connection between Duncan and Mills on the inbounds pass. After Drummond retrieved the turnovers, Jennings did the rest.

“Our confidence is growing,” Van Gundy said.

San Antonio point guard Tony Parker returned after sitting out five consecutive games and 10 of 12. However, he lasted only a half, spending the rest of the game on the bench. Parker missed all three of his field-goal attempts, and he scored three points and committed two turnovers in 13 minutes.

“He is healthy,” Popovich said. “He wanted to play, but I was being conservative. I wanted to make sure he didn’t reinjure it.”

San Antonio led by 18 with four minutes remaining in the first half, but Detroit responded with an 11-0 push in which Augustin and Jennings made 3-point shots.

The Pistons made another long run in the third quarter, 10-0, this time overtaking the Spurs for an 82-77 lead heading to the fourth.

The 6-foot-10 Drummond produced nine points and six rebounds in the third. The Pistons turned seven offensive rebounds — four by Drummond — into 14 second-chance points in the period.

“I thought they really put it to us with second-chance points and fast-break points (nine) in the third quarter,” Popovich said. “They really manhandled us.”

NOTES: Spurs F Kawhi Leonard did not play because of the ligament damage to his right hand that forced him to miss the past 11 games. … Spurs rookie F Kyle Anderson, who started eight times in Leonard’s absence, missed the Detroit game with a sprained right ankle he sustained in practice this week. “Nothing severe,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. … The Pistons’ winning streak includes victories against Indiana, Cleveland, Orlando, New York and Sacramento. Now the schedule gets a little tougher. The game at San Antonio starts a string in which the Pistons will play four times in five days. … Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said that the Spurs’ retention of all 14 players back from their 2014 championship gives them a big edge on the court. “It really allows them to do a lot of things other teams can’t do,” Van Gundy said.