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Pistons beat Mavericks for 7th win in a row

Jan 8, 2015 - 5:54 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Greg Monroe scored 27 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 108-95 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.

Detroit has now won seven straight since waiving forward Josh Smith.

D.J. Augustin scored 17 of his season-high 26 points for the Pistons in the fourth quarter to end any hopes for a Mavericks comeback. Brandon Jennings scored 14 points, and Andre Drummond finished with 19 boards.

The Mavericks got 19 points from Dirk Nowitzki as they saw their six-game winning streak come to an end. Monta Ellis had 16 points, and Tyson Chandler contributed nine points and 15 rebounds.

Detroit used a 60-43 rebounding advantage to lead Dallas in second-chance points by a 17-7 margin and points in the paint by a 56-44 edge.

"The rebounding problem caught up with us tonight in a big way because we turned it over quite a bit and our shot-making wasn't great," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. "When you can't mitigate a rebounding deficit with those two things in your favor, then it's going to be tough. I give Detroit a lot of credit. We just weren't good enough tonight."

With 8:10 to go in the game, Dallas had cut Detroit's lead to 81-76 when Augustin's technical following an offensive foul allowed Nowitzki to hit a free throw to pull within four. On the next two trips down the floor, Augustin got redemption with a pair of triples to put the Pistons up 10 for the first time in the game.

After a Jonas Jerebko tip-in extended Detroit's advantage to 12, Augustin scored seven in a row for the Pistons, and a Jodie Meeks triple with 3:42 to go put Detroit up 17. The Pistons held onto their large edge from there.

"Also our group, I don't know why, but starting Dec. 22 we had three days of practice and from then on it's just been different," said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. "Guys have worked harder, they've been more attentive. A lot more together and again we don't have guys that are getting concerned about who's in the game or their playing time, or their shots, or anything else. They just want to win games."

Dallas never led in a game controlled by Detroit early. The Mavericks evened the score three times in the first half, but the Pistons made sure they never got over the hump.

Detroit led 31-26 after one, but Dallas scored the first five points of the second period to tie the game. It would be the last tie thanks to a free throw from Augustin and a Meeks 3 to put the Pistons back up four.

Chandler's alley-oop with 42 seconds left in the half brought Dallas within one possession, but Monroe tipped in a Jennings layup as time expired to give Detroit a 54-49 lead at the break.

The teams were even in a close third quarter. Jennings weaved through the defense for a buzzer beating layup to give the visitors a 74-68 lead through three.

Game Notes

Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak against Dallas ... The Pistons improved to 2-6 in the second half of back-to-back games ... Detroit shot 10- of-21 from long distance while Dallas was just 6-of-22.