DETROIT _ On a night he received "MVP!" chants from the Little Caesars Arena crowd, Blake Griffin saved his best play for the last possession.
After J.J. Redick's four-point play gave the Philadelphia 76ers a one-point lead with 5.6 seconds left, Griffin capped off a 50-point night with a 3-point play with 1.8 second left in overtime, giving the Detroit Pistons a 133-132 victory to remain perfect on this young season.
Griffin kept the Pistons (3-0) in the game with 28 points in the first half, but his late heroics gave the crowd a jolt.
After Redick scored against the defense of Reggie Jackson, Pistons coach Dwane Casey called time-out.
The ball was in-bounded to Griffin, who faked a dribble handoff to Reggie Bullock before heading to the basket.
He got the lay-up to fall and was fouled by Sixers forward Robert Covington.
He calmly sank the free throw.
Zaza Pachulia, in for Andre Drummond who was ejected from the game, forced a Joel Embiid miss at the buzzer to send the sparse, but loud, crowd home happy.
Embiid, who thoroughly dominated Drummond, finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers (2-2).
But Griffin, who added 14 rebounds and six assists, was the best player on the floor.
The 76ers played without star guard Ben Simmons.
After two embarrassing moments earlier this month that set off social media, Griffin produced a positive viral moment.
The crowd erupted at the 3:51 mark of the second quarter when he took a defensive rebound the length of the floor, faked a pass to Drummond before taking off for a tomahawk dunk.
Griffin yelled to the crowd after the exclamation point of a 28-point first half, although he missed his first six free-throw attempts of the night. He did conclude the half with two makes from the free-throw line.
When Casey removed Griffin late in the first half, Griffin received an ovation.
The Pistons (2-0) still trailed the 76ers, 64-61 at halftime.
Griffin was victimized twice by Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen on dunk attempts _ once in the preseason and once in the season opener.
