Pistons at Mavs final score: Andre Drummond, bench seal key road victory, 102-96

Andre Drummond was huge in the first half. It was a vintage Dre performance, 20 points on 8-11 shooting, 8 rebounds, unstoppable unless you call Hannibal Buress and his friends at Hack-A-Center.

Rick Carlisle did, forcing 14 free throws on the night for Drummond. But with Detroit struggling on the defensive end out of the gates, it was Drummond that kept them in it for the early going.

Dallas kept even with Detroit through the second half behind Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki. Until the bench got going in the fourth quarter.

With 8 minutes to go, the Pistons trailed by one. But Kentavious Caldwell-Pope cut off a Raymond Felton pass, out-hustled J.J. Barea to the loose ball for the clutch transition bucket. After a Dallas miss, the next possession Steve Blake found himself with the ball near half court with the shot clock running down, then hit Marcus Morris for a huge three point bucket.

After a time out, Blake hit two more key buckets to give the Pistons enough of a cushion to close the game out.

Dallas made a run late. A Zaza Pachulia three point play cut the game to three with two minutes remaining. They followed the score up with a pretty incredible defensive possession, forcing a three quarter court shot. Parsons had the chance to pull the game to a tie with a clean three point look...but air-balled.

Reggie Jackson, who had been quiet most of the night, sealed the game from there. Dallas, bringing the defense again, took the Pistons to the end of the shot clock. Jackson, tossing it from several feet behind the arc, put up a Hail Mary. Nothing but net.

Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris also offered solid games for the Pistons. Harris finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Morris went for 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.

The win puts the Pistons even with the Chicago Bulls for the final playoff spot. It's a huge win in a series of huge games.