Pistons vs Rockets final score: Detroit pulls away in overtime, defeats Houston 116-111

Well, that was pretty exciting.

After being unable to get nearly anything offensively for a 12-minute stretch, including the bulk of the third quarter and a nice-size chunk of the fourth quarter, the Detroit Pistons scored EIGHTEEN points in overtime to down the Houston Rockets. Detroit has now won three of its last four games, and five of its last seven.

Reggie Jackson scored 22 points - 18 of them in the fourth quarter and OT - to help the Pistons bring it home, buoyed by Andre Drummond’s ho-hum 20-20-five block game and Blake Griffin’s 28 points, including this deletion of Clint Capela in overtime:

Other Detroit heroes tonight include Bruce Brown - who played tough-as-nails defense on James Harden (9-27 from the field and 12-14 from the line, which tells you everything you need to know) and hit two big free throws at the end of the fourth quarter on a hard foul courtesy of Harden - and Reggie Bullock, who hit an open corner three with the shot clock winding down to begin the OT deluge.

Oh yeah, Clint Capela had his usual spoon-fed double-double (29 points, 21 rebounds), and the Pistons did a better job of contesting Chris Paul’s (20 points, nine assists) trademark 14-foot jumper.

Back to our guys.

The much-maligned (as in “slandered earlier this game by Sean”) Reggie Jackson was the only guy who could attack Houston’s defense from the perimeter and force a rotation or a foul, which he did to great effect late in the game. I, of course, called it:

Look, as ugly and one-dimensional as Reggie can be, that dimension is something every NBA team needs and the Pistons have precious little of. Tonight was the kind of night that reminds you what Reggie’s capable of when he’s permitted to attack and his attacking pays off. He also got other involved - six assists, one turnover - and never fully snatched the offense away from Blake Griffin late. And Blake let Reggie know he appreciated his play; you could see the two of them hyping each other up after the final buzzer sounded.

Last thing: The first half (which feels like it took place on Thanksgiving) was Andre Drummond’s best half of basketball all year:

It’s gonna get lost because of the lategame heroics, but his defense at the rim on Harden was suberb. He had ZERO fouls in the first half, which is tough to do when Harden is drawing contact eternally, and also kept Capela in check (Capela feasted - FEASTED - when Dre was off the court). This game would not have been close without his first-half effort.