Harris powers Pistons past Knicks
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Tobias Harris had 25 points and 10 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons won their third straight by pulling away from the New York Knicks 102-89 on Tuesday at The Palace.
Marcus Morris supplied 22 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed 19 as Detroit (3-1) handed coach Stan Van Gundy his 450th career victory.
The Pistons held the Knicks scoreless in the last 5:40.
Carmelo Anthony led New York (1-2) with 24 points. Derrick Rose had 19 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 18.
The Pistons carried an 86-79 lead in the fourth. Detroit led by 12 early in the quarter but the Knicks chipped away behind Anthony and Porzingis. New York cut the Pistons' edge to 80-77 on a Porzingis tip-in but Detroit's reserves nudged it back to seven.
When Harris hit a pull-up jumper with 7:24 remaining, the Pistons were up 93-83. The Knicks used a 6-1 spurt, capped by a Rose bank-in, to cut the deficit back to five. But New York never scored again as Detroit's defense tightened up.
Following a New York turnover, Caldwell-Pope dropped in a 3-pointer to make it 99-89. Harris' three-point play with 1:11 remaining ended any remaining suspense.
The Pistons led by as much as 13 late in the first half and still had a nine-point advantage, 64-55, at the break. Both teams ran the offensive sets with efficiency, as Detroit shot 55.1 percent from the field and New York connected at 48.8 percent rate.
Morris, mainly working against Anthony, notched 16 first-half points while Caldwell-Pope had 13. They scored all the points on an 8-0 run, including a 3-pointer from each, to make it 63-50. Anthony's three-point play in the final minute got the Knicks' deficit below double digits.
NOTES: Pistons SG Reggie Bullock was inactive for the fourth straight game because of back spasms. ... Both teams complete the second end of back-to-backs Wednesday. The Pistons travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets, while the Knicks have a home game against Houston. ... Pistons C Andre Drummond owns 10 20-20 games (points and rebounds) since entering the league during the 2012-13 season, the most of any player in that span. Coach Stan Van Gundy wants to rest Drummond for shorter stretches this season. "He's capable of playing big minutes," he said. "We want him out there a lot." ... New York won five of the last seven season series. ... Knicks F Carmelo Anthony averaged 21.3 points in 27 career games before Tuesday against the Pistons, his lowest against any Eastern Conference opponent.