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Gordon pushes Pistons past Raptors

Apr 23, 2012 - 5:48 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Ben Gordon scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 19 points as the Pistons beat the Raptors, 76-73, at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Sunday.

Brandon Knight poured in 19 points as well and Greg Monroe ripped down 17 rebounds to snap Detroit's three-game losing streak.

"It's hard to describe," said Detroit head coach Lawrence Frank about the low scoring affair. "It was either good defense or some offense struggling for both teams. It was a grind it out kind of game."

DeMar DeRozan paced the Raptors with 16 points and Linas Kleiza chipped in 12 as Toronto fell for the seventh time in nine games.

After scoring just 29 points in the first half, Detroit exploded for 24 in the third quarter. Charlie Villanueva's three-pointer from the left corner sent the Pistons into the fourth with a 53-50 lead.

Toronto regained the lead with the first five points of the fourth and led by as many as four at the midpoint of the fourth when the Pistons reeled off six straight before Ed Davis tied the game at 68-68 with a dunk.

Gordon scored the next six for the Pistons, but a Kleiza triple and a Solomon Alabi tip in had the Raptors within 74-73 with 39.9 ticks on the clock.

Detroit went just 2-of-4 from the line over the final 20 seconds but Alan Anderson missed a go-ahead three-point try and Kleiza was off the mark on a game-tying three with under a second to play as Detroit hung on for the victory.

"We were right there. We had a lot of opportunities," said Kleiza. "I wasn't able to make the final shot to put it to overtime, but we had chances and that's all you can ask for."

Earlier in the game, DeRozan tallied eight of the Raptors' 15 first quarter points as Toronto took a 15-14 edge into the second stanza.

The Pistons shot just 27 percent in the first half and Toronto recorded seven of the final 10 points in the half to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room.

Game Notes

The Raptors will travel to Milwaukee on Monday before wrapping up the season at home against the Nets on Thursday...Detroit will head to Indiana on Monday before closing out the season at home against Philadelphia on Thursday...There were 21 lead changes and 16 ties in the contest.