Blake Griffin's career-high 50 points powers Pistons to overtime win over 76ers

Vince Ellis | Detroit Free Press

On a night he received “MVP!” chants from the Little Caesars Arena crowd, Blake Griffin saved his best play for the Detroit Pistons' last possession.

After J.J. Redick’s four-point play gave the Philadelphia 76ers a one-point lead with 5.6 seconds left, Griffin capped off a 50-point night with a 3-point play with 1.8 second left in overtime, giving the Detroit Pistons a 133-132 victory to remain perfect on this young season.

Each Pistons victory has been by one possession.

And Griffin has been the difference.

Griffin is averaging 36.3 points and is shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 61.1 percent from 3-point range after going 20-for-35 against the 76ers. He was 5-for-10 from 3-point range.

Griffin's 50-point night is the first in franchise history since Rip Hamilton scored 51 points in 2006.

Griffin's 109 points is the most ever for the Pistons through three games.

He's also the first Piston to score 50 points and have at least 10 rebounds and five assists. He added 14 rebounds and six assists.

His performance amazed teammates.

Zaza Pachulia, who played the last two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, has long battled against Griffin when he starred for the L.A. Clippers.

"Probably the best game of his career," Pistons center Zaza Pachulia said. "From inside, outside, I think he feels great, his body feels great. He's smart, playing against him is different. I'm amazed and I'm glad we're teammates."

Griffin kept the Pistons (3-0) in the game with 28 points in the first half, but his late heroics gave the crowd a jolt.

After Redick scored against the defense of Reggie Jackson, Pistons coach Dwane Casey called time-out.

The ball was in-bounded to Griffin, who faked a dribble handoff to Reggie Bullock before heading to the basket.

He got the lay-up to fall and was fouled by Sixers forward Robert Covington.

He calmly sank the free throw.

Pachulia, in for Andre Drummond who was ejected from the game, forced a Joel Embiid miss at the buzzer to send the sparse, but loud, crowd home happy.

Embiid, who thoroughly dominated Drummond, finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers (2-2).

Drummond was awful, forcing the action when it wasn't there. And he would compound the problem by not getting back on defense when he wasn't bailed out by a call.

And Embiid let him hear about it.

Drummond earned his first technical after arguing a non-call.

But his second technical was an Embiid flop.

Drummond grabbed a defensive rebound and raised his left arm to fend off Embiid.

Embiid could have earned an Emmy for the way he acted.

But referee James Williams was fooled and Drummond was hit with his second foul.

Embiid yelled: "Get him out of here!"

Embiid tried to deflect from Drummond since the Pistons won, but with prodding, he finally gave the reporters what they wanted.

"Obviously, on the second [technical], you can see that he hit me and his hand actually touched my face," Embiid said. "So that's his problem.

"Like I said, I feel like I own a lot of real estate in his head."

Drummond wasn't available after the game, but responded on Twitter.

Lol does he? If that’s so he wouldn’t be so excited to have me off the floor? Think about it that’s a silly statement ! I’ll take the W though enjoy flight home #Emmyaward winning actor — Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 24, 2018

But Griffin was the best player on the floor.

The 76ers played without star guard Ben Simmons (back).

Reggie Jackson scored 23 points and Reggie Bullock added 17.

Ish Smith scored 21 points off the bench.

Drummond scored 14 points on 6-for-20 shooting. He had five turnovers.

Griffin goes viral

After two embarrassing moments earlier this month that set off social media, Griffin produced a positive viral moment.

The crowd erupted at the 3:51 mark of the second quarter when he took a defensive rebound the length of the floor, faked a pass to Drummond before taking off for a tomahawk dunk.

Griffin yelled to the crowd after the exclamation point of a 28-point first half, although he missed his first six free-throw attempts of the night. He did conclude the half with two makes from the free-throw line.

When Casey removed Griffin late in the first half, Griffin received an ovation.

The Pistons (2-0) still trailed the 76ers, 64-61 at halftime.

Griffin was victimized twice by Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen on dunk attempts — once in the preseason and once in the season opener.