AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 36 points, Wesley Matthews added 24 and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons 105-100 on Sunday night for their fourth straight victory.
Andre Miller finished with 15 points and 12 assists for Portland, which has won six straight over the Pistons. Ben Gordon scored 18 points and Tracy McGrady had 16 for Detroit.
The Blazers took a 66-60 lead by running at every opportunity in the third quarter, but missed a chance to widen the gap when Nicolas Batum threw away a pass on a 4-on-1 break.
Aldridge finished with 14 points in the quarter, but the Pistons scored the final nine to get back into the game. Portland led 74-70 going into the fourth, and Patty Mills scored the first five points of the quarter.
Austin Daye’s four-point play started a Pistons rally, and they took an 83-82 lead on Will Bynum’s jumper with 7:36 left.
Miller’s put-back gave the Blazers an 86-84 advantage with 5:32 left, and he added a free throw after Detroit coach John Kuester was called for a technical on the play.
Kuester stayed with his reserves throughout the fourth quarter, and it paid off when two straight Bynum steals led to a 95-93 lead with 1:48 to play.
Chris Wilcox, though, made several key mistakes in the last 90 seconds. He committed two shooting fouls and a three-second violation, then missed a potential tying free throw with 54 seconds left.
NOTES: Blazers guard Brandon Roy (knee) did color commentary on Portland’s TV broadcast for part of the first half. … The fourth quarter featured a jump ball between two of the league’s shortest players, Mills and Bynum. Both are generously listed as 6-feet tall.
