The Detroit Pistons defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 98-94, at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday.

The Pistons (21-26), who came into Wednesday's game having lost two contests in a row, took full advantage of a Pelicans team that was without their star player Anthony Davis. Detroit jumped on the home team from the very start, opening up a 10-point lead in the first 24 minutes and never letting go of it. Blake Griffin took full advantage of Davis' absence, scoring a game-high 37 points on 14-of-28 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists in 38 minutes. Only two other players scored in double figures for Detroit, with Reggie Jackson posting 17 points and Jon Leuer posting 15, but it ended up being more than enough for the visiting team.

As for the Pelicans, it was a real offensive struggle for them without their star, and they were unable to escape with a victory. Jrue Holiday shouldered the offensive load for New Orleans, scoring a team-high 29 points on top of five rebounds and seven assists in 38 minutes. The Pelicans' starting frontcourt did a solid job of producing in Davis' absence, with Jahlil Okafor going 8-of-13 from the floor en route to posting 17 points and 10 rebounds and Julius Randle adding 13 points and 13 rebounds of his own. However, with the Pelicans shooting just 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from behind the arc and making just four of the nine free throws they attempted, they didn't give themselves much of a chance at victory Wednesday night.