More malice at the Palace for Lakers

Former Detroit Pistons guard Isiah Thomas waves to fans ahead of a halftime ceremony during Wednesday night's game against the LA Lakers. Carlos Osorio / Ap

Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons handed the Lakers one last resounding defeat at The Palace on Wednesday night.

Drummond had 24 points and 17 rebounds as the Pistons routed Los Angeles 121-102 in the last scheduled appearance at The Palace for the Lakers.

The Pistons are set to move to a new downtown arena next season.

Detroit honored Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas at halftime as part of the team's ongoing celebration of its years in Auburn Hills.

"Isiah's my guy. We're always in constant communication," Drummond said. "Tonight was a very special night for him."

Some of the Pistons' best memories at The Palace came at the expense of the Lakers, who went 0-5 in NBA Finals games at the arena as Detroit took titles at their expense in 1989 and 2004.

The Pistons led 56-50 at halftime and broke the game open in the third quarter. Detroit went on an 11-0 run to take an 82-61 lead.

Jon Leuer scored 20 points for the Pistons, who have won four of five. Tobias Harris added 19 points.

Julius Randle and Lou Williams scored 17 points apiece for the Lakers.

Detroit went only 4 of 16 from 3-point range but outscored the Lakers 70-46 in the paint.

"Our game plan was simple. We wanted to guard the paint and make them shoot 3-pointers because they aren't a great outside shooting team," Lakers coach Luke Walton said.

"They scored 70 points in the paint and beat us by 19 while only making four threes. That sums up how well we played tonight."

Thomas spoke to reporters before the game and talked about some memories from his playing days.

He also showed optimism about the team's post-Palace future.

"We're just closing one chapter and starting another," Thomas said before the game.

"It's an exciting time, going back downtown to Detroit. This place is really special to all of us."

The Pistons outscored the Lakers 36-20 in the third period. It was the second straight game in which they pulled away at the start of the second half - Detroit also did it Monday against Philadelphia.

"I thought that we defended in the third. That's what I really liked," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said.

"We pushed the ball in transition very well there and also off of our defense. It was a great effort by everybody."

Drummond scored 14 points in the third quarter on 7-of-7 shooting, then wasn't needed at all in the fourth.

The Lakers came into the game leading the league in bench scoring at 50.7 points per game, but their reserves only outscored Detroit's 51-50.

"The first unit wasn't good and neither was the second unit," said Larry Nance, who had six points off the bench for the Lakers.

"That's really unusual for us - usually if the first unit has an off-night, the second group can pick them up and vice versa. Tonight, none of that happened."

Harris was the top scorer among Detroit's backups, and Ish Smith and Aron Baynes added 10 points each for the Pistons.