AUBURN HILLS, Mich. _ Whatever the reason, Reggie Jackson has become more of jump shooter since missing the first 21 games of the regular season because of left knee tendinitis.
But on nights that jumper is falling, he can be pretty effective.
A slumping Jackson delivered 22 points and four assists to send the Detroit Pistons into the NBA All-Star break with a 98-91 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the Palace on Wednesday night.
The Pistons (27-30) rolled to a 27-point halftime lead, before watching the Mavericks cut the lead to eight with a Deron Williams 3-pointer with 4:07 remaining.
But Andre Drummond found Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a corner 3-pointer to give the Pistons a 92-81 lead with 3:01 remaining to allow the home crowd room to breathe.
Jon Leuer scored 20 points and Caldwell-Pope added 16, as the Pistons have won six of nine games. They also remain in possession of the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points for the Mavericks (22-34).
The Mavericks' collective minds appeared to be on Cancun or whatever exotic locale the players will head for starting Thursday.
Leuer scored 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting in December's victory at Dallas, but the Mavericks must have forgotten.
Leuer scored eight points _ with four free throws _ in the first quarter, as the Pistons took a 27-17 lead into the second quarter.
The Pistons blazed away at a 58.3 percent shooting in the second quarter in scoring 35 points to outscore the Mavericks by 17.
The Pistons held the Mavericks to 29 percent shooting and 18 points in taking a 62-35 lead into halftime.
Leuer finished with 14 points in the first half.
Nowitzki dazzled the crowd with a quick 13 points on three triples early in the second half to key the Mavericks' comeback.
Before the game, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was asked about the negative aura surrounding his team.
He reminded reporters the Pistons were only one game behind the pace from last season when they were considered a young and up-and-coming team.
He realizes that expectations play a large role in that perception.
"It's a really about perception and everything else," Van Gundy said. "Last year at this time we were one game better than what we are right now.
"One game better and the feel was totally different. Last year at 27-29, everything was positive and now at 26-30 everything is negative. I get it because the expectations were higher, but those are all the things that sort of change the dynamics and you have to deal with and learn to overcome it. That's part of the development of a team to learn to deal with those things."
