MINNEAPOLIS - Andre Drummond had his second straight 20-20 game with 22 points and 22 rebounds, and six players scored in double figures as the Detroit Pistons recovered from their worst offensive night of the season to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-90 in an NBA game Friday night.
Former Wisconsin Badger Jon Leuer scored 17 points off the bench for Detroit, which lost 87-77 at Charlotte on Wednesday. Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris each scored 15 for the Pistons (13-12).
Detroit committed just seven turnovers and connected on 14 of 29 3-pointers in winning for the seventh time in 10 games.
Andrew Wiggins had 16 points for Minnesota (6-17), which has lost seven of its past eight games. Karl-Anthony Towns posted his fourth straight double-double and 15th of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
A back-and-forth game turned in the Pistons’ favor to end the first half. Morris hit two 3s as Detroit outscored Minnesota 12-4 to end the half for a 49-43 lead.
Morris and Harris each hit three 3-pointers as the Pistons were three off a season high as a team.
Detroit entered the game averaging 7.1 3-pointers per game, the second-lowest total in the league.
Minnesota closed within three points near the end of third quarter, but Detroit went on another closing run. The Pistons outscored the Timberwolves 16-5 in the final four minutes of the quarter.
The Pistons also closed the first quarter on a 12-2 run.
On the second night of a back-to-back, Minnesota was lifeless much of the second half and Detroit’s lead ballooned to as much as 35 points.
The Timberwolves were 3-for-16 from 3-point range and 13-for-20 from the free-throw line. Wiggins was just 6-for-16 from the field.
Drummond posted his fifth 20-20 game of the season. He leads all NBA players with 10 games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds since the start of the 2014-15 season.
-- Minnesota F Adreian Payne was ejected and given a Flagrant-2 foul in the fourth quarter after elbowing Detroit F Marcus Morris. Morris went to the locker room with a towel on his face.
-- Timberwolves reserve F Nemanja Bjelica was held out with a sore right ankle. Bjelica had averaged 10.8 points per game on 58.6 shooting from the field in four December games.
-- The Pistons have played 14 of their 25 games this season on the road. Detroit has won four of its last five road games after starting the season 1-8 away from home.
-- Friday marked the back end of the Timberwolves’ fifth set of back-to-back games this season. They were 3-1 in the first four instances.
Detroit 25 24 33 35 - 117
Minnesota 20 23 25 22 - 90
DETROIT (117)
Mc.Morris 6-12 0-0 15, Caldwell-Pope 3-12 2-2 10, R.Jackson 5-15 4-4 16, Drummond 10-13 2-4 22, T.Harris 5-8 2-3 15, Leuer 5-10 7-8 17, Hilliard 2-3 0-0 5, Baynes 1-2 0-0 2, I.Smith 3-5 0-0 8, S.Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Ellenson 1-3 0-0 3, Marjanovic 0-0 0-0 0, Udrih 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 42-84 19-23 117.
MINNESOTA (90)
LaVine 6-12 2-4 14, Towns 6-12 2-4 14, Rubio 4-5 2-2 10, Dieng 6-9 1-1 13, Wiggins 6-16 3-4 16, Aldrich 1-2 2-3 4, Dunn 4-10 0-0 8, Muhammad 0-2 1-2 1, A.Payne 1-6 0-0 2, Rush 1-1 0-0 3, Ty.Jones 2-3 0-0 5, J.Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-78 13-20 90.
3-Point Goals-Detroit 14-29 (T.Harris 3-3, Mc.Morris 3-6, I.Smith 2-2, R.Jackson 2-3, Caldwell-Pope 2-6, Hilliard 1-2, Ellenson 1-3, Leuer 0-4), Minnesota 3-16 (Ty.Jones 1-1, Rush 1-1, Wiggins 1-3, Muhammad 0-1, A.Payne 0-1, Towns 0-2, LaVine 0-3, Dunn 0-4). Fouled out: None. Rebounds-Detroit 49 (Drummond 22), Minnesota 45 (Towns 12). Assists-Detroit 23 (Caldwell-Pope 7), Minnesota 19 (Rubio 6). Total Fouls-Detroit 23 (Drummond, R.Jackson 4), Minnesota 16 (Rubio, Towns 3). A-14,109.
