Their top three scorers were unavailable, leaving the Clippers short on firepower and bodies in general.
With a six-game winning streak heading into Wednesday night’s game in Detroit, it was up to those left in the group to pull the Clippers through.
Down 11 points in the fourth and then eight later in the quarter, the Clippers refused to give in to their circumstances, rallying with defense that eventually turned into a jumper by Reggie Jackson with 2.3 seconds left to send them to a 100-98 win over the Pistons.
The Clippers trailed 98-91 with 46.9 seconds left, but Terance Mann scored. Then Mann and Nic Batum doubled teamed Jerami Grant, forcing a turnover.
Mann then found Jackson for a 3-pointer to tie the score 98-98.
The Clippers got another defensive stop when Amir Coffey tipped the inbound pass by the Pistons. Mann got the ball and the Clippers called a timeout with 15.4 seconds left.
That set the stage for Jackson to score a season-high 29 points.
Paul George already wasn’t going to suit up after playing 38 minutes Tuesday night in Indiana and scoring 30-plus points for the fourth consecutive game, sitting out for rest. Kawhi Leonard was sidelined because of a sore right foot, his third straight game out. Then about an hour before game time, the Clippers announced that Marcus Morris Sr. was also out, also for rest.
They represented 62.4 of the Clippers’ 115.3 points per game, which ranks them fourth in the NBA in scoring.
So, starters Patrick Patterson, Ivica Zubac, Jackson, Mann and Luke Kennard were tasked with leading the pack.
The Clippers got a lot of resistance from a Pistons team with the third-worst record in the NBA, the worst in the Eastern Conference at 16-38.
But the Clippers improved to 10-1 on the second night of back-to-back games.
