• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Holiday leads Sixers past Pistons

Dec 11, 2012 - 4:44 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Jrue Holiday scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and doled out eight assists, as the Philadelphia 76ers pulled out a hard-fought 104-97 victory over the Detroit Pistons at Wells Fargo Center.

Even Turner filled the stat sheet with 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Thaddeus Young added 20 points for Philadelphia, which had split a home-and-home series with the Boston Celtics over the weekend.

Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight led Detroit with 22 points each, and Rodney Stuckey finished with 19 off the bench in the setback.

The Pistons were coming off a win against the Cavaliers and had won in Philadelphia handily in mid-November to end an 0-8 start to the season. But in a game featuring 13 lead changes and 12 ties, they were unable to stop Holiday down the stretch.

The Sixers led for most of the fourth, but never by more than five until the final minute. Holiday drained a foul-line jumper for a 98-93 lead with 1:53 remaining, and Knight got a tough runner to fall at the other end.

Holiday, a 78-percent free throw shooter, then missed two from the stripe, but Turner ripped away a critical rebound on Monroe's miss at the rim.

"We had some great looks at the rim that unfortunately didn't go in," Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank said.

Holiday settled for a 15-footer the next time down and calmly drained it for a 100-95 lead with 39.9 seconds to go, and after clamping down on defense, the Sixers made enough free throws to seal the win.

"I was a lot more aggressive," Holiday said of the fourth quarter. "I came out looking for my shot."

Detroit's transition game and foul shooting provided the visitors with a 49-46 lead at the break. The Pistons, who trailed 25-21 at the end of the first, had 11 more fastbreak points (20-9) in the opening half and went 17-of-19 from the foul line, as opposed to Philadelphia shooting 4-of-7 at the stripe.

The Sixers scored the first 14 points out of the break to seemingly take control, with Turner assisting on two baskets and hitting a jumper for an 11- point cushion.

But the Pistons answered with eight consecutive points in less than a minute thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds off missed free throws. Monroe scored seven on the quick surge, and it remained tight the rest of the way, as Philly held a 76-75 edge heading to the fourth.

Game Notes

The Sixers are 11-0 when leading at the start of the fourth quarter and 6-1 when scoring over 100 points ... Spencer Hawes totaled 15 points and eight rebounds off the Philadelphia bench ... Sixers guard Nick Young returned from a four-game absence due to a toe injury and logged three points in 18 minutes ... Tayshaun Prince logged 16 points and eight boards for Detroit, which went 28-of-33 from the foul line ... The Sixers made just over half of their free throw attempts (12-of-23).