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Blazers hold off Pistons

Nov 12, 2013 - 7:59 AM Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Damian Lillard scored 25 points while LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez each posted double-doubles in the Portland Trail Blazers' 109-103 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Aldridge logged 18 points and 12 rebounds and Lopez added 17 and 10 for the Blazers, who shot 51 percent from the field en route to their third straight win. Mo Williams came off the bench and donated 17 points to the winning cause.

"They have a whole new team, so they're not the Spurs or Miami, so it was a mental game for us, but I thought guys came and played hard and played the game right," Aldridge said.

Brandon Jennings fueled a late comeback and led all scorers with 28 points, but it wasn't enough as Detroit dropped its third in a row. Andre Drummond chipped in 16 points and 16 rebounds and Greg Monroe netted 19 with eight boards in defeat.

Jennings scored seven points on a 9-0 run that cut a 13-point Pistons deficit to 107-103 coming down the stretch. Detroit had possession in the final minute, but Monroe missed the rim on a contested runner and was whistled for a shot clock violation with 42.6 seconds remaining.

After a Lillard turnover gave the ball back to Detroit, Jennings' runner was altered by Aldridge and rimmed out, and Portland sealed the outcome at the foul line.

"It is a tough loss," Jennings said. "We had some good shots, we came back but we didn't execute well at the end. We had them down to four. But it's still early in the season and I just look to play better every game as a whole team. We have another one tomorrow and I am focusing on that."

Williams was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in the first half and paced the Blazers with 15 points. Lillard, coming off a putrid 1-for-15 shooting effort in Saturday's win over the Kings, added 14 and Portland went into the break in front by a 58-55 margin.

Williams finally missed a shot in the third, but the Blazers never relinquished the lead.

Drummond threw down an alley-oop dunk on the first possession of the fourth quarter to pull the Pistons within 83-80, but 3-pointers by Dorell Wright and Lillard on consecutive possessions quieted the comeback.

Nicolas Batum and Lopez worked a perfect pick-and-roll later on as Lopez took Batum's feed in the lane and soared over Rodney Stuckey for a tomahawk slam while being fouled. The free throw extended Portland's lead to 105-92 with 4:29 on the clock, and the Blazers survived a late collapse.

Game Notes

Lillard made five of Portland's 11 3-pointers ... The Pistons shot just 3- of-14 from behind the arc ... Detroit has lost six straight trips to Portland ... Aldridge had scored 20-plus points in the first six games of the season ... Jennings eclipsed the 5,000-point, 1,000-rebound plateaus for his career ... Batum finished with 12 points and eight assists.