Sexton scores 32, Cavs beat Pistons in double OT

DETROIT — Collin Sexton scored 32 points and three of his teammates had at least 21 points, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 128-119 in two overtimes Saturday night.

The Cavs took advantage of Detroit wasting opportunities to win in regulation and the first overtime, improving to 2-0 and dropping the Pistons to 0-2.

Cleveland center Andre Drummond had 23 points and 16 rebounds, Darius Garland added 21 points and 12 assists, and Cedi Osman had 22 points. Kevin Love, who scored 15 points, returned after missing the opener with a calf injury and JaVale McGee had 11 points off the bench for the Cavs.

Jerami Grant had 14 of his 28 points in the third quarter, when the Pistons took control before blowing it, and Blake Griffin finished with 26 points. Detroit's Derrick Rose had 13 points, missing 11 of 15 shots, and had some costly turnovers.

Cleveland led 59-53 at halftime with three scorers — Sexton, Osman and Garland — already in double figures. Griffin had 18 points at halftime, scoring all his points on 3-pointers with just two misses beyond the arc.

Detroit closed the third with a 14-0 run, capped by Grant’s 3-pointer from the team’s logo at midcourt, after the Cavs led by 11 earlier in the quarter.

The Pistons were ahead 101-93 with three-plus minutes left in regulation and allowed the Cavs to score the final eight points — five on Drummond's free throws — in the quarter to extend the game.

Rose helped the Pistons take a nine-point lead in overtime. He later lost opportunities to seal the victory with an unforced turnover while being guarded by Drummond with 13 seconds left and by losing the ball by dribbling it off Drummond's foot to give it back to the Cavs with 1.2 seconds left.

Cleveland, though, could not get a shot off after Love's inbounds pass was deflected at the end of the first overtime.

TIP-INS

Cavs: Forward Isaac Okoro, the No. 5 overall pick in this year, was 0 for 4 and scoreless in 42 minutes ... Cleveland was without Matthew Dellavedova due to a concussion, Dylan Windler, who broke his left hand in the season-opening win over Charlotte and 2019 first-round pick Kevin Porter Jr., who faces charges of improperly handling firearms in a vehicle.

Pistons: Team owner Tom Gores acknowledged the franchise is rebuilding with a revamped roster and he hopes fans are patient with the young team during a pregame news conference on a Zoom call. ... Detroit was allowed to have up to 250 spectators in the stands and there were about 100 family members of players and coaches, team employees and invited guests in attendance.

UP NEXT

Cavaliers: Host Philadelphia on Sunday night.

Piston: Play at Atlanta on Monday night.