By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Pistons 117, Timberwolves 90 – Andre Drummond’s 22-point and 22-rebound performance led the Pistons to a convincing victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Detroit jumped out to a 25-20 lead after the first quarter, led 49-43 at halftime and had an 82-68 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Reggie Jackson added a season-high 16 points for the Pistons while both Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris chipped in with 15 points apiece. Jon Leuer contributed with 17 points off the Pistons’ bench.
The Timberwolves were paced by Andrew Wiggins with 16 points.
The Pistons are now 13-12 on the season, good for a seventh-place tie in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Detroit will return home on the Sunday to face the Philadelphia 76ers.
Record: 13-12
Tied for 3rd Place in Central Division (5 games behind first place Cleveland)
Tied 7th Place in Eastern Conference (5 games behind first place Cleveland)
½ game ahead of Atlanta and Indiana for the final playoff spot
Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 59
Magic # to clinch a Central Division title: 65
Magic # to clinch a regular season Eastern Conference title: 65
Next Game: 12/ 11/2016 @ Philadelphia 76ers 6:00 p.m. @ Palace of Auburn Hills
Stats: Andre Drummond 22 points 22 rebounds, Reggie Jackson 16 points, Tobias Harris 15 points, Marcus Morris 15 points 7 rebounds, Jon Leuer 17 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 10 points 7 assists.
Blue Jackets 4, Red Wings 1 – The Columbus Blue Jackets cruised past the Red Wings on Friday night.
Cam Atkinson, Sam Gagner and Lukas Sedlak each led the Blue Jackets with a goal and an assist on the night while Brandon Dubinsky added a goal.
Columbus led 1-0 after the first period and 3-1 heading into the third before closing out the scoring with the lone goal in the final stanza.
Dylan Larkin notch Detroit’s lone goal which was assisted by Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen.
Detroit’s goaltender Petr Mrazek took the loss in net, stopping 14 of 17 shots before getting pulled in favor of Jimmy Howard, who returned to the lineup from an injury.
The Red Wings are now 13-12-3 on the season, good for 29 points and a fifth-place in the Atlantic Division.
Detroit will remain home to face the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday evening.
Record: 13-12-3 29 pts
5th Place in Atlantic Division (10 points behind first place Montreal)
11th Place in Eastern Conference (10 points behind Montreal)
3 points behind Boston for the last playoff spot
Magic # of pts to clinch a playoff berth: 112 pts
Magic # of pts to clinch a regular season Atlantic Division title: 121 pts
Magic # of pts to clinch a regular season Eastern Conference title: 121 pts
Next Game: 12/11/2016 vs Philadelphia Flyers 5:00 p.m. @ Joe Louis Arena
Stats: Goals- Dylan Larkin (9). Assists- Thomas Vanek (9), Frans Nielsen (10). Goalie- Petr Mrazek L (8-6-3) 14 saves on 17 shots, Jimmy Howard 7 saves on 7 shots.