Sixers top Pistons in overtime for Win No. 2

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Remember those 76ers who went 0-17 for the worst start in franchise history?

Now they're on a roll.

They have two wins in their last three games after beating the struggling Detroit Pistons, 108-101, in overtime Saturday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The Sixers, who finally cracked the win column by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves before losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, are 2-18. Both of their wins came on the road.

"We are on a great little run," said point guard Michael Carter-Wiliams, who finished with 20 points, 15 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocked shots and 7 turnovers. "We played OKC tough. We came up a little short. But we wanted to build off that coming into this game."

The Pistons dropped to 3-17 and lead the Sixers by only one game in the Eastern Conference standings. This was Detroit's 11th consecutive loss. The Pistons are closing in on the franchise record of 14 straight losses.

The Pistons missed all 11 of their field goal attempts in the extra period. Their lone point came on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's foul shot with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left.

"I was pleased with our defense in that overtime," said Sixers coach Brett Brown, whose squad also held the Pistons to 18 points in the fourth quarter. "I thought our defense was tough."

After the teams combined to miss their first nine shots in overtime, Henry Sims' jumper gave the Sixers a 102-101 lead with 1 minute, 57 seconds left. Then Nerlens Noel's 5-foot floater made it a 104-101 game with 29.9 seconds left. Carter-Williams and Robert Covington both added a pair of late foul shots in the seven-point win.

"Robert played great," Carter-Williams said of Covington, who finished with a career-high 25 points off the bench. "I think Luc [Mbah a Moute, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds] made a couple of hustle plays. And Nerlens, Henry, and [Brandon Davies] were in there banging with their bigs and doing the best they can.

"So it was definitely a group effort."

Pistons power forward Josh Smith finished with a team-high 23 points. Small forward Kyle Singler added a season-high 21 points.

The Sixers were again without reserve point guard Tony Wroten (sprained right knee) and Alexey Shved (left-hip flexor strain).

Brown said there's a chance Wroten could play Wednesday at Atlanta.

Saturday marked the fifth game Wroten missed since suffering his injury against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 26. The 6-foot-6, 205-pounder is the team's leading scorer at 17.9 points per game.

Shved averages 10.4 points. This was the third consecutive game he missed.

The Pistons took a 99-95 cushion as Noel was called for goaltending on Smith's jumper with 58.7 seconds left in regulation.

The Sixers pulled within two points when Mbah a Moute made the front end of two separate trips to the foul line.

After a Smith foul shot gave Detroit a three-point cushion, Hollis Thompson drained a three-pointer to knot the score at 100 with 13.4 seconds left.