OKLAHOMA CITY _ The Pistons' post-Andre Drummond era began with a flourish, with a new-look front line and some good effort from a short-handed roster.
It just wasn't enough to topple the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of this season's surprise teams in the Western Conference.
The Pistons hung close until the final minutes, as the Thunder held on for a 108-101 victory on Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Reggie Jackson had 28 points and Christian Wood 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in a starting role. Thon Maker added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Pistons (19-35), who finish a back-to-back at home Saturday against the New York Knicks.
The Thunder (32-20) had a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter after a three-point play and drive by Dennis Schroder (18 points) but Jackson countered with a three-point play and on the next trip, added a four-point play after a jumper by Chris Paul (20 points, six rebounds and seven assists), cutting the lead to 85-78 at the 10:08 mark.
Wood later added a 3-pointer but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander responded with three of four free throws, en route to five straight Thunder points. Jackson followed with a 3-pointer but Steven Adams hit a hook with 4:23 left to push the lead back to 10.
The Pistons rallied with a free throw by Jackson and a put-back by Wood. That started an 8-2 run, with another lay-in on a nice pick-and-roll play from Jackson and Maker made one of two free throws to finish the flurry, to get the Pistons within 99-95 with 2:28 left.
The Pistons couldn't get stops down the stretch, though and Paul hit two free throws and a jumper to get the lead back to eight.
The Thunder lead got down to five in the final seconds but they made their free throws and kept the Pistons at bay.
