Wayne Ellington continued his hot hand, scoring 20 points as the Detroit Pistons rebounded from their worst loss of the season with a 107-92 upset of the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Centre Mason Plumlee finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Blake Griffin tallied 23 points and Derrick Rose came off the bench to score 14 points as the last place Pistons improved to 5-4 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
“I thought we were really good,” Griffin said. “I was proud of the way everybody played.”
Detroit cleaned up their defensive game Thursday after making 22 turnovers in a one-sided 122-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
The Lakers lost back-to-back games for the first time as they were held to under 100 points after being forced to play without forward Anthony Davis, who was out with a bruised right quadricep.
This loss comes just 24 hours after the Lakers suffered their first road loss, a nail-biting 107-106 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers. Los Angeles has now lost two straight after winning their first 10 games on the road to start the season.
Kyle Kuzma and James each scored 22 points for the Lakers, who are now 3-2 in their seven-game road trip. James insisted he doesn’t get tired on these long road trips but he hinted at some frustration with his teammates on Thursday.
The teams will meet again in Los Angeles on February 6.
Elsewhere, Nicolas Batum scored 18 points, helping the Los Angeles Clippers rally to a 109-105 win over the Miami Heat. Miami lost its fifth straight game, the longest losing streak in the league.
