Drummond, Monroe lead Pistons past Cavs 111-104

4/10/2013

CLEVELAND — Andre Drummond scored a career-high 29 points and the Detroit Pistons won a second straight game for the first time in two months with a 111-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight.

Greg Monroe's basket with 38.8 seconds remaining gave Detroit a 105-103 lead and the Pistons, who hadn't won consecutive games since Feb. 8-9, swept the four-game season series from the Cavaliers. Detroit has beaten Cleveland six straight times.

Drummond also grabbed 11 rebounds, while Monroe scored 23 points and Rodney Stuckey added 18.

Kyrie Irving scored 27 points, including 21 in the second half, but missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Cavaliers the lead with 21 seconds left. The All-Star guard was playing on the second night of back-to-back games for the first time since returning from a shoulder injury.

Both teams have been in recent tailspins which has led to speculation that the two coaches — Detroit's Lawrence Frank and Cleveland's Byron Scott — could be replaced at the end of the season. The Pistons have just four wins in their last 19 games and are 6-19 since the All-Star break. The Cavaliers have lost 12 of 14.

Irving was injured March 10 and missed eight games. He returned March 31, but sat out the following night as part of the team's recovery protocol.

Dion Waiters came off the bench and scored 11 points in 15 minutes in his first action since injuring his left knee March 20. Waiters, the team's second-leading scorer, missed 10 games. Tristan Thompson added 19 points for Cleveland.

Will Bynum scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons.

The Cavaliers sent Drummond, a 34 percent foul shooter, to the line throughout the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-10 center was 8 of 14 and made two free throws to give Detroit a 101-99 lead with 2:06 to play. Drummond's tip-in put Detroit up by four, but Thompson scored on a drive and Irving's basket with 44 seconds remaining tied the game.

Monroe's basket gave Detroit the lead for good. Following Irving's missed 3-pointer, Thompson fouled Drummond away from the ball. Since the foul occurred under the two-minute mark, the Pistons got two free throws and the ball. Stuckey made a foul shot and Jonas Jerebko split a pair after another foul.

Drummond was 9 of 17 from the line.

Pistons point guard Jose Calderon, the league's leading three-point shooter, missed his second straight game with a strained triceps. He's averaging 11.6 points a game since being acquired from Toronto.

The Cavaliers blew a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead Tuesday in a 99-94 loss at Indiana. Trailing by two in the closing seconds, Irving drove to the basket for an apparent game-tying layup but was whistled for charging. Scott thought Indiana's Jeff Pendgergraph should have been called for a blocking foul, but the call was upheld after a video review.

NOTES: Frank said C Jason Maxiell is still recovering from season-ending surgery for a detached retina and isn't traveling with the team. ... Cavaliers G C.J. Miles (concussion) missed his second straight game. Miles was inadvertently elbowed in the forehead by Orlando's Nikola Vucevic on Sunday. ... F Luke Walton (sprained ankle) missed his third straight game.