Alperen Sengun had 27 points and 10 rebounds, leading the visiting Houston Rockets past the Detroit Pistons, 101-99, on Sunday.
Tari Eason had 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Jalen Green tossed in 15 points. Dillon Brooks added 14 points and Fred VanVleet chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Cade Cunningham had 26 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for Detroit as his three-game triple-double streak ended. Isaiah Stewart contributed 16 points and eight rebounds. Malik Beasley had 15 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 10.
The Pistons led 45-43 at halftime with neither side leading by double digits before the break.
VanVleet’s first basket came midway through the third quarter, a layup with Detroit leading 56-51. That began a 7-0 Houston spurt, which included a VanVleet 3-pointer.
The Rockets finished the quarter with a 12-4 run to take a 72-64 lead. Eason scored six points during that span.
Eason hit a 3-pointer with 10:54 remaining to give the Rockets a 77-65 lead. He made a layup with 9:20 remaining for an 82-70 advantage.
Hardaway and Beasley made 3-pointers 21 seconds apart to cut Houston’s lead to 84-78. Hardaway’s three-point play with 6:17 remaining pulled the Pistons within a point. Detroit regained the lead on a Tobias Harris basket a minute later.
Sengun had a go-ahead putback with 2:28 left. Ivey then committed a turnover and Brooks dunked on the other end. After Ivey missed a layup attempt, Sengun dunked in another offensive rebound to give the Rockets a 100-95 lead.
Harris hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to make it a two-point game. After empty possessions on both sides, Sengun was fouled with eight seconds left. He made the first free throw and missed the second.
VanVleet fouled Cunningham, who made his first and missed the second. Ivey got the rebound but missed a 3-point try.
Harris got the rebound and was fouled by Sengun. Harris missed the first and intentionally missed the second but the tactic failed.
