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Detroit Pistons use big second half to beat Memphis Grizzlies

By Phil Stukenborg, The Sports Xchange
Darrun Hilliard and the Detroit Pistons snapped a six-game losing streak to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Photo courtesy NBA.com.
Darrun Hilliard and the Detroit Pistons snapped a six-game losing streak to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Photo courtesy NBA.com.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Playing without two of their starters, the Detroit Pistons snapped a six-game losing streak against the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday at FedExForum with a 103-90 victory.

The Pistons trailed by nine at the half, but outscored the Grizzlies 55-33 in the second half. Detroit got 52 points from its reserves, including 14 from center Boban Marjanovic and 13 from forward Darrun Hilliard.

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Memphis, which has secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs, sat its starters for the fourth quarter. Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 15 points and Marc Gasol scored 13.

"Even if we'd played our guys 40 minutes, the Pistons are no pushovers," Grizzlies coach David Fizdale said.

The Pistons, who were eliminated from playoff contention Friday, did not play starters Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris.

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Detroit led by only one (83-82) with 7:11 to go, but went on a 3-point scoring binge to pull away. Beno Udrih started the run, Henry Ellenson added two straight and Hilliard closed the 12-2 run for a 94-84 advantage with 4:09 left.

Ahead by 12 early in the third quarter, the Grizzlies lost their lead behind a rash of turnovers and 3-of-13 shooting. They only scored 10 points in the period and trailed 75-67 entering the fourth.

Memphis committed nine turnovers in the quarter and were outscored 27-10. The Grizzlies went six minutes without a field goal, from a Conley layup at the 6:54 mark to Andrew Harrison's pull-up jumper with 54 seconds remaining.

The first half was a different story.

The Grizzlies led 57-48 at the half behind 58 percent shooting (22 of 38) from the field. Gasol had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and JaMychal Green was 4 of 5 and had 10 points.

Memphis made eight 3-pointers in the first half, including six from its starters, who went 6 of 8 from beyond the arc.

Detroit led by five points early in the opening quarter, but fell behind by 12 late in the second period after back-to-back 3-pointers from Green and Gasol.

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NOTES: Grizzlies F Zach Randolph, a candidate for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, sat out Sunday's game as a scheduled rest day. Randolph is averaging 14.1 and 8.2 points in his first season as a reserve. ... The Pistons, who were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday night, rested starters Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Detroit was eliminated after Charlotte's loss to Boston Saturday. ... Grizzlies F Vince Carter tied Kobe Bryant for 13th in NBA history for career regular-season games played. Carter played in his 1,346th game Sunday. ... Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said C Boban Marjanovic, the team's 7-foot-3 big man from France, is making strides as his second NBA season nears a close. "He has gotten a lot better laterally," Van Gundy said. "He has really worked on it. He works every single day. A lot of guys want to just come in (to the league) and shoot. He understands that's an area he has to work at." Marjanovic scored a career-high 27 in a 114-109 win Friday at Houston.

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