. He decided to do something a
PHILADELPHIA - With the Detroit Pistons mired in a six-game losing streak, Josh Smith couldnt believe his team could fall behind by 16 points in the first quarter. John Henry Johnson Jersey . He decided to do something about it. Smith had 22 points in an outstanding all-around game, Brandon Jennings made four 3-pointers in the second half and the Pistons ended their slide with a 114-104 comeback victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. "I was frustrated because of the fact we were on a six-game losing streak and it was disheartening to see us not come out with the kind of desperate energy we needed in order to get off the skid," Smith said. He certainly played with his share of desperation. The 76ers said Smith became the third player in NBA history with 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and four steals in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other two were Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did it twice. Smith was the only one of the three to hit a 3-pointer in the game. He made two of them, although the forward shot just 2 for 8 from 3-point range and 8 of 23 from the field. "He was around the rim all night," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He was there to clog the middle." Five other players scored in double figures for the Pistons, who averaged just 88.8 points during their skid. Kyle Singler and Will Bynum each had 16 off the bench. "Whenever those guys come off the bench to give us positive minutes, it makes us that much better," Smith said. Thaddeus Young scored 22 points for the Sixers, who have lost three straight after reeling off four consecutive road wins. Michael Carter-Williams added 21 points, Evan Turner had 19 and Spencer Hawes finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The game marked Cheeks first return to Philadelphia as a visiting head coach since being fired by the Sixers in 2008. Cheeks coached in Philadelphia for three seasons and was an assistant with Oklahoma City from 2009-13 before getting hired by Detroit last June. The homecoming meant little to him, though. "It didnt matter where we were," Cheeks said. "We just needed to get the win." The Pistons outrebounded the Sixers 62-42, tying the Wells Fargo Center record for offensive rebounds with 25. They also finished with a season-high 14 blocks. Detroit led 100-98 with 5 minutes remaining before scoring the next nine points, including a 3 by Jennings with 3:21 left that just about put the game away. "They made a run we couldnt come back from," Turner said. Trailing by double digits for most of the first half, the Pistons staged an early third-quarter rally, going on a 15-2 run to take their first lead at 70-69. The spurt was capped by back-to-back 3s from Jennings — his first two field goals of the game. Jennings, the teams leading scorer, had 18 of his 19 points in the second half. "We just kept fighting," Jennings said. "The second half we had was probably one of our best second halves we had all season." The Sixers made nine of their first 10 shots to take control early, opening a 22-7 lead with 7:46 remaining in the first quarter. The Pistons scored the final seven points of the period to trim it to 36-28, and their deficit remained eight heading into halftime. And then in the second half, they struck. "Hopefully this is a springboard to get us going," Cheeks said. NOTES: Sixers forward Lavoy Allen missed his first game of the season with a right calf injury. Arnett Moultrie also was out (left ankle). ... Allen Iverson sat courtside and received a raucous ovation when he was shown on the big screen. Iversons jersey will be retired at halftime of Philadelphias game against the Washington Wizards on March 1. ... Despite struggling badly on the boards, the Sixers outscored the Pistons 64-50 in the paint. ... Pistons centre Andre Drummond, who had a career game against the Sixers on Dec. 1 with 31 points, 19 rebounds and six steals, was held to 11 points and picked up a technical foul late in the third quarter. ... The Sixers shot 31.9 per cent from the field in the second half after shooting 54.2 per cent in the first half. Patrick Willis Jersey .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. Bruce Taylor Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.SAITAMA, Japan - Canadas Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford had a season-best score in the pairs short program Wednesday to sit in second place at the ISU world figure skating championships. Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were second with 77.01 points, just behind Olympic bronze medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. The four-time world champs lead at 79.02 and Sochi silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third with 76.15 points. "It was amazing," said Radford, who won world bronze last year with Duhamel. "We wish we could skate like that all the time. Most of this season, we tried so hard to please everyone and fight for every point. Today we were a lot more relaxed and its put us in a perfect spot heading into the free skate." Less than eight points separate the top five pairs. At the Games, Duhamel and Radford helped Canada to the silver medal in the team event and were seventh in pairs. "We came back from the Olympics feeling like we had achieved all our goals," said Duhamel. "We feel very settled but from this point on were going to be competing for ourselves and not worry about every little point." Tatsuki Machida of Japan upstaged compatriot and Olympic gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu on Wednesday to finish first in the mens short program. Machida, who was fifth at last months Sochi Games, hit all his jumps and scored a career-high 98.21 points to finish ahead of Javier Fernandez of Spain, who had 96.42 points. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto is skipping the championships. The mens event concludes with the free skate on Friday. Skating to music from the movie "East of Eden," Machida electrified the capacity crowd of 18,000 at Saitama Super Arena with a near-flawless routine that opened with a quad toe loop, triple toe loop combination. The 24-year-old Machida also included a triple Axel and a triple Lutz in his routine. "I got motivated when I saw Hanyu win the gold in Sochi," Machida said. "I think this is thee best chance Ill have to get a medal and will do my best in the free skate. Ken Dorsey Jersey. I was able to get a lot of positive energy from the crowd tonight." Hanyu fell on the opening quad toe loop and finished with 91.24 points for third place. "Needless to say the toe loop wasnt good," Hanyu said. "But how I jumped wasnt that bad so I am going to adjust for the free program." Fernandez, who was fourth in Sochi, impressed the judges with a dynamic routine and got high marks for a triple Lutz, triple toe loop combination. "One skater did better than me but I am still happy with my performance," Fernandez said. "Sometimes its hard to get motivated right after the Olympics by my coaches told me to work hard and I can see that hard works pays off." Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic was fourth, followed by Han Yan of China. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was 15th, world junior champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto was 16th and Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 22nd. Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were sixth in the pairs while Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., were 12th. In Sochi, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch contributed to Canadas team silver and were fifth in the pairs. "It was nice to skate the program clean one last time. All those run-throughs paid off," Moore-Towers said. "I felt great, calm and confident," added Moscovitch. "The skate felt good. Our goal is to skate to clean programs and we are halfway there." The pairs event concludes Thursday with the free skate. "I think youll find there is an easier sense of flow throughout the program," Radford said. "Weve just made some little adjustments to free up the program and when weve been skating it in practice, it feels lighter and smoother and it feels easier for us to just let it go and enjoy the moment." The womens short program is also scheduled for Thursday. ——— With files from The Associated Press. ' ' '