San Antonio Spurs (41-17) beat Detroit Pistons (42-14) 114-103 on the road on Monday, February 23.
The game, quarter by quarter
The Pistons struck first, taking the opening quarter 27-24 and a 3-point lead after one. The Spurs moved in front with a 33-28 second quarter, carrying a 2-point lead into halftime.
The Spurs won the third 26-20 to create some separation, taking a 8-point lead into the fourth. The Spurs took the fourth 31-28; the Spurs finished the job for a 114-103 regulation win.
What decided it
The Spurs got more from their shots, finishing at 50.5% effective field-goal shooting compared with 41% for the Pistons. The Spurs took better care of the ball, turning it over on 11.4% of possessions compared with 13.7% for the Pistons. That shooting gap supplied the clearest edge.
The Pistons did win one battle, second chances: ORB% of 37% against 31.4%. The Spurs made up for it elsewhere.
At roughly 107 possessions per team, the Spurs produced 106.2 points per 100 possessions to 95.9 for the Pistons.
Who made the difference
Jalen Duren was the game's biggest individual force for DET: 25 pts, 14 reb, 1 ast on 10-13 shooting. His Game Score of 24.6 led everyone. His team was -12 with him on the floor.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 28 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast on 10-14 shooting, good for a 24.5 Game Score.
Jalen Duren (25 pts, 14 reb, 1 ast), Cade Cunningham (16 pts, 6 reb, 10 ast), and Ronald Holland II (15 pts, 11 reb, 0 ast) each recorded a double-double.
What it means
By our Win Meter this was an upset: The Spurs entered with about a 34% chance.
Across the last 2 meetings in our records, Detroit Pistons lead 2-0.
The Spurs are now 41-17, and the Pistons are 42-14. The Spurs last five before this game: W-W-W-W-W.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.