NBA: Eric Gordon, Rockets hang on in final seconds to edge Pistons
FILE–Eric Gordon #10 of the Houston Rockets . Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP
Eric Gordon scored 24 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 117-114 road win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
Tari Eason had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Kenyon Martin Jr. had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Houston.
Alec Burks scored 21 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 18 in defeat for Detroit, which gave up 16 offensive rebounds.
Trailing 112-109, Houston scored four points on one possession to take a 113-112 lead with 31.6 seconds remaining.
After being fouled on a made layup, Martin missed the ensuing free throw, but after an offensive rebound by Jae’Sean Tate, Martin rebounded a miss by Tate and converted an open layup to give Houston the lead.
On Detroit’s next possession, Jabari Smith Jr. forced a tie-up and won the subsequent jump ball and tipped it to Gordon, who was fouled with 18.5 seconds left.
Gordon made both free throws to give Houston a 115-112 lead.
Detroit pulled within 115-114 on a layup by Jaden Ivey with 9.5 seconds remaining, but Gordon was fouled again and hit two free throws with eight seconds left to make it 117-114 Houston.
The Pistons had one last chance to tie, but a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Ivey rimmed out as time expired.
Detroit scored five straight points to take a 108-104 lead with 3:09 remaining in the game, but Houston answered with five straight of its own to go up 109-108 with 2:16 left.
Burks then hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to give the Pistons a 112-109 lead with 1:20 remaining.
The Rockets held a 76-64 lead with 6:00 remaining in the third quarter before Detroit answered with six straight points to cut its deficit to 76-70 with 5:04 left in the third.
Houston held a 79-71 lead with 4:05 remaining in the third, but Detroit went on a 13-1 run to take an 84-80 lead with 38 seconds to go in the quarter.
Detroit eventually took an 86-83 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Rockets scored nine of the final 14 points of the first half to go into the break with a 59-57 edge. Eason had 10 points before halftime, while Ivey led all scorers with 11.
