The Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons closed out just the third 60-win regular season in franchise history on Sunday, leading wire-to-wire in a 133-121 defeat of the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
With the East’s No. 1 seed in the upcoming NBA Playoffs also secured, Detroit (60-22) limited its entire starting five to fewer than 26 minutes in Sunday’s regular-season finale. That was plenty of time for Paul Reed to make some more Pistons’ history, as he became the organization’s first player ever to score 25-plus points on a perfect field-goal shooting performance.
Reed scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-11 from the floor. Tobias Harris added 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Detroit knocked down 15-of-33 from long distance overall and went a blistering 50-of-89 (56.2%) from the floor overall.
The Pistons’ even distribution of minutes provided plenty of scoring opportunities for Detroit’s reserves, led by Kevin Huerter’s 15 points and Isaiah Stewart’s 16. The Detroit bench outscored Indiana’s, 60-45.
The Pacers (19-63) made a late push in their final game of the worst season by won-loss record in franchise history, pulling to within six points with less than three minutes remaining. Ethan Thompson, one of four Indiana scorers with at least 18 points, scored the last of his 18 during the futile rally effort down the stretch.
Quenton Jackson and Obi Toppin led the Pacers with 21 points each, and Kobe Brown added 20 points. Micah Potter finished with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double.
The Detroit reserves helped build a lead that peaked at 27 points in the third quarter when the visitors surged out of halftime with an 18-9 run. Reed and Ausar Thompson punctuated the surge with back-to-back dunks, part of the Pistons’ 62 points in the paint.
On a night Detroit was red-hot from the floor, Cade Cunningham was a rare exception shooting just 3 of 12. The Pistons’ star finished with only seven points, but neared a triple-double in his reduced playing time, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing 14 assists.
