In a stunning development, the Pistons used reserves Friday night to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
With Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy waving the white flag on the season, he allowed Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson and Boban Marjanovic to finish the game against the Houston Rockets.
And they delivered in the 114-109 victory at the Toyota Center.
Ellenson scored 15 points in the first start of his career and his two free throws allowed the Pistons to pull within 105-103 with 1:51 left.
Marjanovic dominated with 27 points and 12 rebounds. His layup with 1:28 remaining tied the game at 105.
Johnson, who has had an unimpressive season, made several key plays down the stretch and nailed key 3-pointers _ the last one giving the Pistons (36-43) a 110-107 lead with 32.4 seconds left.
Ish Smith added 20 points, as the Pistons fended off 33 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds from Rockets star James Harden.
The Pistons were helped to remain alive with the Miami Heat losing Friday night at Toronto.
The Pistons had lost 10 of 12 games going into Friday.
The Rockets (53-26) rocked the Pistons with seven 3-pointers in taking a 30-24 lead after the first quarter, but the Pistons received a boost from a stretch where Marjanovic scored eight straight points.
The Pistons took a 46-41 edge on a Marjanovic three-point play with 4:47 left in the first half.
But Harden scored seven points in a 13-6 run to close the second quarter, giving the Rockets a 54-52 lead at the half.
Marjanovic finished the first half with 17 points and five rebounds.
The reason Van Gundy has been reluctant to play Ellenson and Marjanovic is for defensive reasons.
It's more how the game's played currently with the high number of pick-and-rolls that force big men to be adept at lateral movement.
You can get away with a little at center since there are still post-up big men.
But you can't hide at power forward _ Ellenson's projected spot.
"I think those forward spots _ especially (power forward) _ is probably one of the harder to play because you've got to be able to play in the post, you've got to be able to play on the perimeter, all the way to the three-point line. In a lot of cases, you've got to switch on to guards," Van Gundy said before the game. "It's a very, very difficult position to defend right now in the NBA."
