Gästebuch » the swing and finish he has,”

The Detroit Pistons are just playing for pride in the final days of the NBA season.

They’ve been eliminated from the playoffs – and haven’t even won a postseason game in 10 years – and they traded away their first-round pick for Blake Griffin.

Reggie Jackson Tramon Williams Jersey , howver, found a reason to step up against the Dallas Mavericks.

Jackson scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Pistons beat the Mavericks 113-106 Friday night.

”The plan was just to win the game,” Jackson said. ”They had some young guys out there who really want to prove something, and they were all playing amazing, so we had to find a way to stop them.”

Jackson played 35 minutes, his most since returning from missing 37 games with a sprained ankle.

”He made a lot of great plays out of the pick-and-roll, to the point that I was getting upset if we ran anything else,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. ”He was able to keep that going into overtime, which was good to see, and he was one of the few guys we had trying on defense tonight.”

Andre Drummond added 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons, who had six scorers in double figures.

Johnathan Motley led the Mavericks with career highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds.

”You have to tip your cap to our player-development people and our G-League people Kiko Alonso Jersey , because they’ve been coaching him up all year to be ready for this opportunity,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

Motley, playing his ninth NBA game, also held Drummond in check for most of the game.

”He’s a great player who is dominating the league, so this was really going into the fire for me,” he said. ”I’m confident in my ability, and I think I can play in this league, so this was a good test for me.”

Detroit led 101-98 with a minute left in regulation, but Carlisle kept starters Harrison Barnes, Dwight Powell and Dennis Smith Jr. on the bench.

Luke Kennard missed a clinching 3-pointer, and after Dallas turned the ball over Nick Nelson Jersey , Jackson missed a shot that would have made it a five-point game with 30 seconds left.

Motley tied the score with a 3 with 10.1 seconds left, and Jackson’s buzzer-beater bounced off the front rim.

Detroit moved ahead 110-105 with 1:29 in overtime, and after a Dallas offensive foul, Jackson’s floater sealed the victory.

The game was Detroit’s first since being eliminated from playoff contention by Wednesday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

”I think we can call that a low-intensity game on both sides,” Van Gundy said. ”There wasn’t a lot of urgency to win the game by either team until overtime, but Reggie made the plays we needed to win it.”

With both teams eliminated from playoff contention and playing short-handed, the quality of play suffered. On one first-quarter possession, the Pistons were forced into a 3-point try by Drummond as the shot clock expired. Drummond missed and fell to 0-for-10 on 3s this season and 5 for 29 in his six-year career.

Maxi Kleber’s buzzer-beating jumper gave the Mavericks a 54-53 lead at halftime. Motley and Barnes had 13 points each for Dallas, while Anthony Tolliver and Henry Ellenson combined for 20 points at Blake Griffin’s power-forward spot.

Neither team was able to take control in the third quarter, but a late 3 by Langston Galloway gave the Pistons a 78-75 lead going into the final 12 minutes of regulation.

The Mavericks began the fourth with a 10-2 run, but couldn’t hold the advantage.

TIP INS

Mavericks: Three of Dallas’ top five scorers – Jose Juan Berea (rib strain) Fred Warner Jersey , Dirk Nowitzki (ankle) and Wesley Matthews (leg) – missed the game. … Nowitzki averaged 19.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 19 games on the Pistons’ home court at the Palace of Auburn Hills. This would have been his first, and possibly only, game at Little Caesars Arena.

Pistons: Reggie Bullock sat out with swelling in his left knee, while Griffin missed his fifth straight game with an ankle injury. … Drummond needs 48 rebounds in the final three games to become the first NBA player to average 16 per game since Dennis Rodman in 1996-97. Rodman, who did it five times with the Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, is the only player to average 16 for a season since Moses Malone in 1978-79.

UP NEXT

Mavericks: At the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday in their last road game of the season.

Pistons: At the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Theo Epstein says Yu Darvish is feeling better and he is optimistic the Japanese right-hander will make a ”solid contribution” this season.

But the Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations stopped short of providing a schedule for the injured starter’s return.

Darvish signed a $126 million, six-year deal with the Cubs in February. He is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts and didn’t earn his first win until May 20 in Cincinnati. He went on the disabled list on May 26 with tendinitis in his right triceps.

Darvish suffered pain during a June 28 bullpen session in Los Angeles, which prevented him from throwing naturally. The 31-year-old traveled to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area the following day to get an opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic surgeon who is one of the Texas Rangers’ team physicians.

Darvish got a new diagnosis – right elbow impingement and inflammation – as well as a cortisone shot. The Cubs said it would take several days for the injection to ”settle in.”

”I think it’s been a good couple of days for him, but he’s still in that strengthening mode Davon Godchaux Jersey ,” Epstein said Friday before the Cubs hosted the Cincinnati Reds. ”We’re not going to set any timetables yet until he moves from the strengthening phase to the throwing phase.

”A lot of it depends on how he continues to feel and how the throwing goes,” Epstein added. ”We won’t rush him.”

Meanwhile, slugger Kris Bryant, out since with June 22 with left shoulder imflammation, batted on Friday and ”had a really good day in the cage,” Epstein said.

Bryant was eligible to return from the disabled list on Tuesday. The 2016 National League MVP could return to the Cubs any day or go on a brief rehab assignment.

Bryant is batting .280 with nine homers and 36 RBIs in 66 games this season.

”We’re going to get together to see whether he wants or needs a rehab assignment just to test it in a game situation before he comes back,” Epstein said.

Bryant had been experiencing pain on his swing follow-through.

”The shoulder is an important joint to the swing, especially with the swing and finish he has,” Epstein said. ”I don’t know we expected it to be this long . he needs to execute his swing and feel good.”

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