AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Andre Drummond knows he’s a poor free-throw shooter. He still doesn’t like
it when teams make an effort to remind him.On an afternoon when the Philadelphia 76ers started intentionally
fouling him in the third quarter, the 20-year-old forward responded with a performance the NBA hasn’t seen
in 23 years as the Pistons posted a 115-100 win Sunday.Drummond sat out the end of the third quarter after
missing nine of 12 free throws in the period, but in the 34 minutes he did play, he became the first player
to have 31 points, 19 rebounds and six steals in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1990. He set career highs
in all three categories, two days after Maurice Cheeks left him on the bench for the last 21 minutes of
Detroit’s loss to the Lakers.“That’s a slap in the face for any player, so you get fired up,” said Drummond,
who also blocked two shots. “You can’t get angry and lose your focus, though. I just told myself it was a
good chance to work on my free-throw shooting and put some points on the board.”Philadelphia coach Brett
Brown, who watched Gregg Popovich use the strategy during his days as an assistant in San Antonio, said he
didn’t enjoy the idea, but thought it was his team’s only chance when it trailed by 24 points at
halftime.“It is one of the ugly parts of the game,” Brown said. “You do not really like doing it, but it is
a rule and it helped our team.”The Pistons are used to the strategy — Popovich was one of several coaches to
use it against Ben Wallace — but not usually in the third quarter. Drummond, though, is a unique case. He
might be the worst free-throw shooter in league history — he entered the game shooting 27 percent from the
line — and Detroit collapsed late against the Lakers with him on the bench.“Andre’s a great young player,
but I told him tonight that he needs to learn from this,” Cheeks said. “If he becomes a better free-throw
shooter, no one will be able to knock him out of a game.”At one point, the Sixers immediately fouled
Drummond on three straight possessions, forcing Cheeks to take him out of the game. The strategy worked, as
Philadelphia cut the margin to 94-82 going into the fourth, and the Pistons had to put Drummond back into
the game.“I left him in there long enough to see how well he was going to shoot, because he was having a
great game, but there comes a point where you have to take him out,” Cheeks said. “They broke the rhythm of
the game — that’s why you do it — and I didn’t want that to keep happening.”Drummond, though, changed things
in the fourth. He finished off a three-point play and then swished a pair of free throws to give the Pistons
a 103-85 lead with 9:04 to play. That kept Brown from intentionally fouling him until they trailed by 19
with 4:03 left. Drummond split a pair of shots before coming out of the game, just short of Detroit’s first
30/20 night since Dennis Rodman in 1991.“When you do anything over and over, you get better at it,” he said.
“My teammates kept telling me to take my time, and I hit more of them toward the end.”Brandon Jennings and
Josh Smith each added 20 points for the Pistons, while Thaddeus Young had 24 for Philadelphia before fouling
out late in the game.The Sixers play at a much higher pace than the Pistons, so a up-tempo first half should
have played right into their hands. Instead, it was Detroit that dominated, scoring 40 points in the first
quarter and leading by as many as 25 on the way to the 70-46 lead. The Pistons outshot Philadelphia 55.1
percent to 39.1 percent, and had a 31-14 advantage on the boards.Jennings dominated his matchup with rookie
Michael Carter-Williams in the half, outscoring him 13-8 and dishing out 11 assists to just three for
Carter-Williams. Drummond also had a first-half double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons
had five players score in double figures in the half, while Philadelphia didn’t have any.“It’s pretty
obvious that we need to come out better,” Carter-Williams said. “We’re fine scoring the ball, but we need to
play defense. It’s a team thing, and we have to put the pieces together.”NOTES: Detroit native Bob Seger was
in attendance and conducted the crowd in a sing-a-long of his hit “Old Time Rock-n-Roll” during a first-half
timeout. … Detroit wore its dark-blue “Motor City” jerseys for the second straight home game, while
Philadelphia wore its white jerseys.