The Detroit Pistons had chances to tie the game late in the fourth, but ultimately fell short against the Houston Rockets on Sunday afternoon.
Rockets center Alperen Sengun scored five of his 27 points in the final 2:28 to help Houston to their 101-99 victory.
Trailing 101-99 with six seconds left, Pistons’ guard Cade Cunningham intentionally missed a free throw and Jaden Ivey got the offensive rebound. His shot missed, but Tobias Harris was fouled on the rebound.
With a chance to tie the game with one second left, Harris missed the first free throw. He intentionally missed the second, but Ivey fell out of bounds trying to secure the rebound.
Sengun added 10 rebounds and Tari Eason scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Cunningham had 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, falling short of becoming the first Pistons player to record four straight triple-doubles.
Sengun’s putback gave the Rockets a 96-95 lead with 2:28 to play, and Jaden Ivey was called for an offensive foul on the next possession. Houston suffered another setback, this one on a dunk by Dillon Brooks, before Sengun scored Houston’s third straight basket on an offensive rebound to make it 100-95.
Houston was able to stay in the game in the first half despite shooting 18.8% (3 of 16) on three-pointers while recording nine offensive rebounds.
Cunningham had 14 points in the first half on 5-of-10 shooting, but his teammates managed just 31 on 36.3% (12 of 33) from the floor.
The Rockets led 84-72 with nine minutes left, but Malik Beasley hit three 3-pointers in a 16-3 run to put Detroit ahead 88-87 with 5:16 to go.
Houston forced seven turnovers in the third quarter, leading to eight points and holding the Pistons to 36.8% shooting. Detroit missed all five three-point attempts, including three by Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Pistons host the Heat on Tuesday.
