Pistons 104, Heat 81

Stan Van Gundy is tired of his Detroit players talking a better game than they play.

Wednesday night, he asked them to do something about it.

"I'm always hearing guys talking about playing hard, but the heck with that - talking doesn't do anything," he said. "I wanted to see guys actually go out and show some leadership by playing hard."

One of his specific messages was that he wanted Andre Drummond to put forth a big effort against Miami's Hassan Whiteside. Drummond responded with 18 points, 20 rebounds and a season-high five blocks in Detroit's victory.

"He was aggressively protecting the rim right from the start of the game, which was what we needed," Van Gundy said. "That's tough because they can throw lobs to Whiteside, but he handled it."

Drummond knew what was expected of him. He has grabbed 20 rebounds in four of Detroit's 15 games, but it was his blocks that were important.

"We had a talk yesterday at practice about me not challenging shots, so I made that a job tonight," he said. "I was going after everything, knowing my teammates would have my back against the lob."

Detroit won for the third time in nine games, while Miami lost for only the second time in eight.

"They had us on our heels pretty much from the get go," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They dictated the game and they imposed their will. They started that on the first possession of the game and they didn't stop."

Reggie Jackson added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Pistons.

Gerald Green had 16 points for Miami, while Whiteside finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Dwyane Wade scored two points on 1-for-9 shooting — the fewest points he has ever scored in at least 20 minutes of action.

"I just sucked tonight," Wade said. "Give Detroit credit, because they came out to win this game, and they were very focused. But individually, I just sucked."

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who spent most of the game guarding Wade, missed 13 of his 15 shots, but didn't let it bother his defense.

"That's something I learned in college. Most of my offense comes from my defense anyway, so I know I had to focus on that first," he said. "He's got so many moves that I just tried to stay on top of him and not give him any space."

Van Gundy, though, wasn't giving Caldwell-Pope too much credit.

"Dwyane has scored a lot of points for me and a lot of points against me, so I know what he's capable of doing," he said. "Give KCP credit, he played really, really hard against him, but I've seen a lot of guys play really, really hard against Dwyane and still give up 30-plus. We got a break tonight."

The Pistons came into the game off a 21-point loss to former teammate Greg Monroe and Milwaukee. Detroit responded with a 60-point first half against the second-rated defense, hitting 8-of-14 3-pointers while not allowing a point off their three turnovers.

"We were upset about what happened in Milwaukee, and we had something to prove tonight," Jackson said. "We can't shoot like that every game, but we can play defense and hustle, and we didn't do that in the last game."

Drummond had 12 points, 12 rebounds (six offensive) and three blocked shots in the half, while Wade missed four of his five shots.

"They were amazing in the first half," Wade said. "They didn't give us anything and we gave them everything."

Detroit's lead was 17 at the half and quickly grew to 28 midway through the third.

The only Pistons player who couldn't get going was Caldwell-Pope, who missed his first 11 shots before hitting a corner 3-pointer late in the third quarter.

Thunder 110, Nets 99

Kevin Durant scored 30 points, Russell Westbrook added 27 points and 13 assists and Oklahoma City beat Brooklyn.

Dion Waiters had 16 points, and Serge Ibaka finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in the Thunder's third straight victory.

Brook Lopez scored 26 points for the Nets. They had their three-game winning streak in Oklahoma City snapped.

Raptors 103, Cavaliers 99

Kyle Lowry scored 27 points, DeMar DeRozan added 20 and Toronto beat Cleveland for its third straight victory.

LeBron James had 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who lost their third straight road game. Kevin Love added 21 points and 13 rebounds.

The Raptors went up for good with 7:45 to go in the fourth.

After missing their first five shots of the fourth quarter, the Raptors scored nine straight points over a 2-minute span to open a 91-84 lead with 5:38 to go.

Timberwolves 99, Hawks 95

Zach LaVine had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds in place of the injured Ricky Rubio, and Minnesota swept the season series with Atlanta.

Rubio first tweaked his left ankle Monday night against Philadelphia and tried to play through it Wednesday. But another spill in the second quarter ultimately limited him to 21 minutes.

Andrew Wiggins scored 15 points on 5-for-17 shooting for the Wolves (7-8), who won their second home game in a row after an 0-6 start at Target Center. The Wolves entered the night last in 3-point field goals, but went 9 for 21 against the Hawks.

Paul Millsap had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeff Teague scored 22 points for the Hawks. But Atlanta shot just 37.8 percent from the floor and 25 percent on 3s for its fifth loss in seven games.

Spurs 88, Mavericks 83

Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and San Antonio beat Dallas.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and seven rebounds in his return from a two-game absence because of a mild left ankle sprain. Tony Parker added 16 points and eight assists, and the Spurs improved to 12-3 with their third straight victory.

Wes Matthews had 15 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 13 for Dallas.

Devin Harris' 3-pointer cut San Antonio's lead to 84-83 with 33 seconds remaining, but Leonard followed with his own 3 just 18 seconds later. Matthews then missed a 3-pointer, and Manu Ginobili went 1 for 4 on free throws to close out the Spurs' eighth straight home victory to open the season.

Hornets 101, Wizards 87

Jeremy Lamb had 18 points and seven rebounds, Nicolas Batum added 16 points and 11 assists and Charlotte closed with a 25-2 run to beat Washington.

The Hornets overcame a late nine-point deficit and set a franchise record by holding the Wizards to six points in the fourth quarter. Charlotte ran its home winning streak to seven and has won five of six overall to improve to 9-6.

Kemba Walker, coming off a 39-point game Monday night in Charlotte's overtime win over Sacramento, added 16 points, and Marvin Williams and Al Jefferson each had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Marcin Gortat led Washington with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Bradley Beal also had 17 points.

Grizzlies 102, Rockets 93

Jeff Green scored 20 points and Courtney Lee had 10 of his 17 in the fourth quarter to help Memphis beat struggling Houston.

Houston has lost three straight to drop to 5-10 overall and 1-3 since coach Kevin McHale was fired and replaced by J.B. Bickerstaff. James Harden had 40 points for the Rockets.

The Grizzlies led for most of the game despite playing without Zach Randolph, who missed his fourth straight game with soreness in his right knee.

Kings 129, Bucks 118

Rudy Gay scored 36 points and Sacramento beat Milwaukee for its second road victory of the season.

Sacramento scoring and rebounding leader DeMarcus Cousins sat out because of a strained lower back. The Kings had lost all five previous games that Cousins missed this season.

Omri Casspi added 19 and seven rebounds, and Rajon Rondo had 10 points and 13 assists.

Bucks coach Jason Kidd was ejected with 1:49 remaining after he slapped the ball out of a referee's hand. Kidd had to be restrained by O.J. Mayo and an assistant coach before being escorted to the locker room. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton had 21 points apiece for Milwaukee.

Pelicans 120, Suns 114

Anthony Davis tipped in a missed shot with 20.6 seconds left for the go-ahead basket and New Orleans pulled away to beat Phoenix.

Davis had 26 points and 17 rebounds and the Pelicans overcame a 17-point first half deficit for their third straight victory and second over the Suns in four days.

Jrue Holiday hit a pair of free throws with 14.5 seconds to give the Pelicans a 116-112 lead and the Suns cut it to two on free throws by Brandon Knight, but Holiday made two more free throws to seal the win in the game that had 17 lead changes.

Eric Gordon had 23 points for New Orleans, former Sun Ish Smith added 20 points and 11 assists, Ryan Anderson also had 20 points, and Holiday finished with 19.

Knight scored 29 points, 20 in the first quarter, and had 10 assists. Leuer added 20 points, 13 in the fourth quarter, and 12 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe and T.J. Warren each had 18 points.

The Suns, who lost at New Orleans on Sunday night, dropped their third straight to fall to 7-8.