NBA Game Summary - LA Clippers at Detroit
Auburn Hills, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Jamal Crawford scored 25 points in the Los Angeles Clippers' 104-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
Chris Paul added 23 points and seven assists for the Clippers, who improved to 4-1 on a seven-game road trip. Blake Griffin tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
D.J. Augustin ended with 19 points and six assists for the Pistons, who have lost six in a row. Josh Smith, Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each had 17 points, with Drummond also pulling down 13 boards.
Trailing 73-72, the Clippers started the fourth quarter on a 20-10 run. Crawford tallied nine points during the surge, including a layup with 4:36 left to make it 93-82.
However, the Pistons responded with nine straight points to get within 93-91. Griffin stopped the bleeding with a slam, sparking an 8-0 Los Angeles spurt that Paul and Crawford capped with 3-pointers.
"We started making some shots and started moving a little bit," Paul said. "We got them to turn it over and miss a few shots, and that's when we're at our best."
Detroit never got closer than five the rest of the way.
"It's just frustrating for me that I couldn't find a way, either in terms of defensive scheme or in terms of something to run offensively to help our guys a little bit more down the stretch," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said.
The Pistons led 51-48 at the half and took a 73-72 lead into the fourth.