AUBURN HILLS, Mich. _ Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy asked for more effort from his team.
The Pistons showed plenty of post-Thanksgiving guts and gumption in a physical, at times downright nasty, game against the Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA's best team this season, at the Palace Friday.
Detroit topped L.A., 108-97, after leading the Clippers at the end of the third quarter, 82-80.
Pistons guard Kantavious Caldwell-Pope had four triples, scored 16 points and dished out 10 assists as the Pistons improved to 8-9, while the Clippers fell to 14-3.
Darrun Hilliard and Michael Gbinije came off the bench Friday in place of the injured Reggie Bullock (knee).
Both were busy.
Pistons center Aron Baynes (defensive rebounding and scoring) and forward Jon Leuer (all over the floor, 11 points off the bench) weren't afraid to throw their weight around either.
Caldwell-Pope sparked the Pistons to a 63-50 lead with two quick triples at the start of the third quarter.
But J.J. Redick, who earned the jeers of the rowdy crowd over several incidents, got hot at the end of the third, nailing two 3-pointers, to reduce the Pistons lead to just two points.
The Pistons were embarrassed by the Clippers, 114-82, in the first meeting of the season at Staples Center Nov. 7.
Detroit played with plenty of energy and emotion Friday from the opening buzzer, which Van Gundy had demanded of them after a recent four-game losing slump.
At the half, the Pistons had scrapped to a 57-48 lead, with Tobias Harris scoring 13 points and Ish Smith contributing 10.
Clippers guard Jamal Crawford paced the Clippers in the first half with 11, while forward Blake Griffin had 10.
The Pistons scored first on a dunk by Andre Drummond (16 points, 10 rebounds, three steals) and shot to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter behind scoring from Marcus Morris (team-high 17 points), Harris (16 points) and Caldwell-Pope (16 points).
Detroit extended the lead to 17-9 on Pope's 3-pointer with 7:10 remaining on the clock.
Drummond showed he meant business with a gigantic alley-oop dunk and the Pistons lead 19-9.
At the end of the first, Detroit had jumped out to a 35-23 advantage, Harris with nine points.
Smith added 16 points and seven assists.
Griffin and Redick each scored 24.
