AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a season-high 22 points and the Detroit Pistons scored the game’s first 15 points and cruised to their fourth straight victory 111-91 over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at The Palace.
The shooting guard also made four rebounds and four steals while notching his third 20-point game of the season. Point guard Reggie Jackson had 20 points and six assists, center Andre Drummond delivered his NBA-high 19th double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds and power forward Anthony Tolliver added nine points and a season-high 13 rebounds for Detroit (12-9).
Point guard Lou Williams led the Lakers (3-17) with 21 points. Power forward Julius Randle contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles, which is 1-3 on its eight-game road trip.
Retiring small forward Kobe Bryant, making his final appearance at The Palace, missed his first nine field goal attempts and finished with five points on 2 of 15 shooting in 26 minutes. Bryant was questionable to play because of an illness.
Lakers shooting guard Nick Young was ejected with 8:58 remaining. He shoved Tolliver in the neck area after Tolliver’s hard foul in transition.
The backcourt of Jackson and Caldwell-Pope combined for 31 first-half points as the Pistons led 65-42 at halftime.
The quick 15-point outburst lasted three minutes and was capped by two Jackson free throws after he stripped the ball from Bryant. The Lakers scored the next nine points but Detroit quickly regained a double-digit lead.
Backup point guard Steve Blake’s four-point play midway through the second gave the Pistons their first 20-point lead at 49-29. Caldwell-Pope tossed in a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to make it a 23-point game.
Bryant, hounded by Detroit small forwards Marcus Morris and Stanley Johnson, missed all seven of his first-half shot attempts.
The Pistons’ lead grew to 28 early in the third as Bryant missed two more shots. He finally broke through with a 3-pointer from the right wing over Morris.
NOTES: Lakers SF Kobe Bryant averaged 22.7 points in 32 regular-season games against Detroit entering Sunday night, third-lowest against any opponent, behind only Atlanta (22.3) and New Jersey/Brooklyn (22.4). He was averaging 23.1 points in 16 regular-season games at The Palace. … Detroit recalled PG Spencer Dinwiddie and SG Darrun Hilliard after one-game stints with its D-League Grand Rapids (Mich.) affiliate. Hilliard scored 31 points for the Drive. … Pistons C Andre Drummond had 18 double-doubles in the team’s first 20 games, six more than any other NBA player. … All of Los Angeles’ wins have come against Eastern Conference opponents. … Both teams were on the front end of a back-to-back, with the Pistons heading to Charlotte on Monday night and the Lakers playing at Toronto.