Paul scores 22 as Thunder beat Pistons


Reuters | Oklahoma | Updated: 08-02-2020 10:48 IST | Created: 08-02-2020 10:37 IST
Paul scores 22 as Thunder beat Pistons
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Chris Paul scored 22 points to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 108-101 home win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. The Thunder led for much of the game but never could stretch the margin to double digits before Detroit made a push early in the third quarter to come back and tie the score at 57.

Oklahoma City then scored nine consecutive points quickly to ignite a 19-6 run overall and grab control. Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored six points each during that stretch, which lasted until two minutes remained in the quarter.

The Pistons made a push in the fourth, cutting the deficit to four in the final three minutes, but the game never got any closer. Oklahoma City stretched its winning streak to four games and has won nine of its past 10.

Detroit has lost seven of its past nine. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder while Danilo Gallinari added 19, Dennis Schroder 18 and Steven Adams 16.

Oklahoma City shot 51.3 percent from the field, the seventh time in the past 13 games that the Thunder has shot better than 50 percent from the field, even though they hit just 21.7 percent from behind the 3-point arc. Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with 28 points.

Christian Wood made the most of his first start since early January and only his second start of the season, producing 27 points, one-off his career-high. Wood moved into the starting lineup in part due to the Thursday trade that sent big man Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Drummond was the second-leading rebounder in Pistons history, but at least for one night, Wood capably filled in. Wood also led Detroit with 12 boards. Wood was 10 of 18 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range.

John Henson and Brandon Knight, the two players the Pistons acquired in the Drummond trade, were not available Friday night. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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