Morris, Satoransky lead Wizards to 109-91 rout of Pistons
Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris, left, dunks in front of Detroit Pistons guard Luke Kennard, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, in Washington. Wizards guard Bradley Beal is at center. The Wizards won 109-91. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
WASHINGTON — Markieff Morris shook off his recent struggles to score 23 points, Tomas Satoransky added a career-high 17 points off the bench, and Washington Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 109-91 on Friday night for their first home win in nearly three weeks.
Otto Porter Jr. added 17 points, and Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, which improved to 2-2 without All-Star point guard John Wall since he received injections in his swollen left knee.
The Wizards outscored Detroit 35-15 in the third quarter, the Pistons’ lowest-scoring period of the season, to secure their first home victory since Nov. 13.
Andre Drummond had 14 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists for the Pistons, who were still outrbounded 49-32.
Tobias Harris scored 15 points for Detroit, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Pistons led by as many as seven points in the second quarter.
Morris had scored 18 points combined in his last three games, which prompted a one-on-one film session with Washington coach Scott Brooks before the game.
The power forward responded with 14 points in the second half, which Washington began on a 17-0 run to open a 63-52 lead.
The Wizards held the Pistons without a field goal for more than 6 minutes to start the third quarter and forced four turnovers before Detroit scored its first points after halftime.
The Pistons got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Wizards guard Bradley Beal began the game wearing protective goggles after taking an elbow to the face in Washington’s loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday, but he got rid of them by the end of the second quarer. He finished with 10 points.
