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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- If the Detroit Pistons had played defence like this all season, their chances of making the playoffs might not look so remote. Josh Smith scored 24 points and Rodney Stuckey added 23, and the Pistons held Sacramento to 11 points in the third quarter in a 99-89 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night. "I thought our bigs were tremendous in pick-and-roll tonight," Detroit interim coach John Loyer said. "But it was a team effort. The guys on the ball did a good job. We didnt give them easy looks." Andre Drummond added 15 points and eight rebounds for Detroit, outscoring DeMarcus Cousins in a matchup of two of the NBAs top young big men. Cousins had 13 points and 14 rebounds but shot 5 of 15 from the field. Detroit trailed 54-52 at halftime, but outscored the Kings 20-11 in the third quarter. "I thought we lost that game in the third quarter," Sacramento coach Michael Malone said. "We did not come out ready to play. We had some good looks, but did not knock them down." Rudy Gay scored 20 points and Isaiah Thomas added 19 points and eight assists for Sacramento. The Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak and pulled to within three games of Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "We played with a sense of urgency," Detroit guard Will Bynum said. "There are a couple of things we could do a little better, but this is definitely a building point." The Pistons have shown little sign of a late-season run, but they put the Kings away with impressive starts to the third and fourth quarters. Detroit began the third on an 8-0 run thanks to a dunk by Drummond and 3-pointers by Smith and Brandon Jennings. An alley-oop from Smith to Drummond on the break made it 69-60. "Sometimes it isnt about numbers, its how you play," Loyer said. "I thought it was one of Andres better games. I thought he did a much better job in the post. I thought his defence was good." It was 72-65 after three, and Detroit started the fourth with six straight points. "Were concentrating on feeling more comfortable and were also trying to play for something," Smith said. "I dont want to sit home in April and think about what I could have done." The Pistons won despite a rough shooting night for their two point guards. Jennings and Will Bynum combined to go 5 of 24 -- although they did finish with 13 assists between them. Cousins dunked on Drummond early in the game, giving the Kings a 12-6 lead, but the Pistons kept him under control for the most part. Drummond blocked a shot by Cousins out of bounds later in the first quarter. "We just make too many small mistakes during the game. Turnovers hurt us, and we didnt communicate on defence," Cousins said. "Were making things too hard on ourselves. They came to play, and they made it tough for us, but we are hurting ourselves." Greg Monroe, who was drafted two spots after Cousins in 2010, had six points and 12 rebounds for Detroit. NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game in honour of William Clay Ford, who died Sunday. Ford was owner of the Detroit Lions and the last surviving grandchild of automotive pioneer Henry Ford. ... Sacramentos Ray McCallum, who played college basketball at Detroit, scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. ... The Kings did match up well with Detroit inside, outscoring the Pistons and their imposing front line 18-8 on second-chance points. ... Sacramento shot 3 of 15 from 3-point range, and in the second half the Kings went 6 of 17 on free throws. Blue Jays Jerseys 2020 . And Richard Bachman, their rookie goalie, is facing a penalty shot a few seconds after the opening face-off. No pressure, right? Bachman stood his ground against Zack Kassian and saw the puck dribble off the Canuck rookies stick, then settled in and backstopped the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division. Toronto Blue Jays Shirts . - Doug Kalitta led Top Fuel qualifying Friday in the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway with a 3. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ .Fiji striker Roy Krishna scored in the 14th minute to give Wellington its fourth win, along with a draw, from its past five matches, putting the Phoenix fourth but only a point behind third-placed Adelaide. Toronto Blue Jays Pro Shop .C. -- Clemson celebrated a senior class Saturday that brought the program back as a national contender. Toronto Blue Jays Gear . Footballs governing body said Tuesday that of the 2,577,662 tickets allocated for this years tournament, 1,041,418 have gone to people in Brazil. The U.Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Robin Lehner made 35 saves, and the Ottawa Senators scored four goals in a 5 1/2 minute span in their 7-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday afternoon. He was great down the stretch, said Bobby Ryan. He controlled the pace of the play. Milan Michalek and Mark Stone each scored in the closing minutes of the second period, and Ryan and Jean-Gabriel Pageau added goals very early in the third period. Ottawa also got goals from Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Mika Zibanejad to win for the second time in three games. Marc Methot tallied a career-high three assists. Mike Smith allowed five Senators goals on 20 shots against him before getting the hook in the third period. Zbynek Michalek and Sam Gagner scored Arizonas goals as the Coyotes fell to 1-3-2 on their ongoing eight-game road trip. After two goals were scored in the first 69 seconds of the game, it took until late in the second period for either team to light the lamp again. Milan Michalek skated around two Coyotes before snapping a shot past Smith to break the 1-1 tie. Stone extended Ottawas lead two minutes later when he deflected Methots point shot. Ottawa added to its lead right after a successful penalty kill early in the third period. A Coyotes turnover exiting the zone sent the Senators moving the other way. Ryan took the backhand pass from Clarke MacArthur and jabbed a one-timer past Smith. Just 20 secondss later, Pageaus backhand goal chased Smith from the game, and Louis Domingue made his NHL debut in relief.dddddddddddd Gagner scored the next goal when he deflected Lauri Korpikoskis wrist shot by Lehner, but the Coyotes would not get any closer. With eight minutes to go in the game, Karlsson took advantage of an ill- timed Arizona line change to fire a shot by Domingue, and Zibanejad scored with 1 1/2 minutes left after Ryan set him up for a one-timer at the side of the net. In the end, it was embarrassing, said Zbynek Michalek. Thats not how we want to play. One game after only needing five seconds in a period to score a goal, Arizona got off to another fast start against Ottawa. Zbynek Michalek scored just 40 seconds into the game when his wrist shot deflected off Methots glove into the net. Hoffman only needed 29 seconds to tie the game when he wristed a loose puck by Smith. Game Notes Ottawa swept the season series, outscoring Arizona 12-3 ... Zibanejad has scored in three straight games ... The Coyotes have been outscored 62-31 in the third period ... David Legwand had two assists for the Senators, and Ryan, Stone, Karlsson and Zibanejad each had two points ... For the first time since Jan. 12, 1985, two sets of brothers competed in the same game with Zbynek and Milan Michalek and the Stone brothers, Mike and Mark. ' ' '