Dion Waiters received an inbounds pass from Luol Deng with 3.2 seconds left, dribbled to his left and nailed a long two-point jumper as time expired to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 97-96 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit led 96-87 late in the fourth after a Kyle Singler jumper, but Jarrett Jack hit a 3-pointer that was part of an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to one with 53.8 seconds left.
The Pistons had two chances to increase the lead, but came up empty both times and Deng pulled down a rebound with seconds remaining, allowing the Cavs a shot at the win.
Matthew Dellavedova scored a career-high 21 points off the bench and Waiters tallied 18 points for the Cavs, who played without star point gaurd Kyrie Irving for the sixth straight game due to a strained bicep.
Jack contributed a 17-point, 13-assist double-double in place of Irving and Anderson Varejao netted 12 points with 16 rebounds in the win.
Josh Smith paced Detroit with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists. Singler notched 18 points, Brandon Jennings had 17 points with 13 assists and Greg Monroe deposited 14 points with eight rebounds in the Pistons' sixth loss in their last seven contests.
[SportsNetwork.com]
