Hitting a clutch 3-pointer helped Charlie Villanueva forget a critical mistake.
Villanueva big shot with 9.7 seconds left and Rodney Stuckey’s two free throws led the Detroit Pistons past the Milwaukee Bucks 105-100 on Saturday night.
Brandon Jennings, who scored 26 points, took an inbounds pass from Monta Ellis and made a tough fadeaway shot with 47.8 seconds left, but Jose Calderon, who tied his season high with 23 points, came back with a running layup for Detroit that tied it at 100.
After a timeout, the Pistons worked the ball to Villanueva, who got it at the top of the key and swished a 3 with 9.7 seconds left. On the Bucks’ next possession, Jennings fired up a 31-foot 3-point attempt with 3.2 seconds left.
”I was kind of disappointed I made a turnover,” Villanueva said after making a bad pass with less than a minute to play and the game tied at 98. ”I was down on that for a little bit, but I jumped on the next play right away.”
Villanueva said his teammates just made the play happen.
”The guys made the right play. I don’t even know who passed it to me,” he said. ”Once it hit my hand, I wanted to make sure it went in so they could forget about that turnover I did.”
Stuckey’s two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining were the final margin…
Calderon had 10 assists and three steals in his fourth game since coming to the Pistons in a trade on January 30.
— Reported by the Associated Press
