AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope usually makes his mark as a defender. He showed a new element to his game during one of the Detroit Pistons' best performances of the season.

The third-year shooting guard approached a triple-double with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists as the Pistons rolled to a 118-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night at The Palace.

Caldwell-Pope had never recorded more than five assists but racked up six in the third quarter alone when Detroit turned the game into a blowout.

"Tonight, he made really good, solid plays," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We don't put him in a lot of positions to be able to make plays. He got a few more chances with that tonight and I thought he did a great job. He took good shots, and his decision-making was the best it's been in terms of when he shot and when he passed."

Caldwell-Pope committed only one turnover, another sign of how well he distributed the ball.

"Coach made a great emphasis on that -- not turning the ball over," Caldwell-Pope said. "If we don't have the initial shot, try to make a great pass. And that's what I was doing."

He didn't shirk his defensive responsibilities, collecting a team-high four steals. The Pistons scored 27 points off 16 Indiana turnovers.

"I had a lot of energy," he said. "We just picked it up at the defensive end. We got stops and ran in transition and got easy baskets, which continued throughout the whole game."

Point guard Reggie Jackson led six Detroit players in double figures, with 21 points and nine assists. Power forward Ersan Ilyasova scored 20 points, small forward Marcus Morris supplied 16 and reserve small forward Stanley Johnson added 11 for the Pistons (14-11), who have won six of their last eight games.

Backup point Steve Blake had 11 points for Detroit and center Andre Drummond chipped in eight points and 11 rebounds.

Point guard George Hill's 14 points and eight assists led the Pacers (13-9), who have lost four of their last five games. Power forward Paul George, the league's third-leading scorer, was held to 13 points on 4-of-16 shooting while mainly being defended by Morris.

"Marcus Morris really battled Paul George," Van Gundy said. "Paul George is one of the toughest matchups in this league and (Morris) didn't give him anything easy."

George was disappointed in the team's effort.

"Tonight was one that was different from all the other ones," he said. "We really gave up a lot of fast-break points and let them really control the tempo. We're just playing poorly on back-to-backs right now."

Detroit outscored Indiana 29-19 on fast breaks.

"We didn't get back well enough," said Pacers coach Frank Vogel, whose team has given up an average of 123.5 points in its last four losses. "We didn't talk and match up well enough. They were the more determined team tonight."

Pacers shooting guard Monta Ellis, who had scored 24 points in a victory over Miami the previous night, was held to 11 points.

Ilyasova's fast-break layup with 7:42 left in the third gave Detroit a 15-point lead, 75-60. He made another moments later to make it 79-60. Jackson made it a 20-point spread at 86-66 with a 3-pointer.

By the final minute of the quarter, the Pistons were up by 27. Detroit scored a season-high 37 points in the quarter.

Neither club had more than a seven-point lead until Caldwell-Pope made a transition 3-pointer late in the first half. Ilyasova followed with another to make it 63-51. The Pistons took a 65-55 lead to the locker room.

George didn't make his first field goal until 2:55 remained in the half.

NOTES: The Pacers won the last three meetings and six of the last seven at The Palace. ... Indiana PF Paul George averaged 30.5 points over the last 17 games. ... The Pistons have not made the playoffs in the last six seasons but Indiana coach Frank Vogel expects that streak to end soon under coach Stan Van Gundy. "He knows how to win," Vogel said. "It's just a matter of time before he gets this group over that hump and into the playoffs." ... Detroit is in a stretch where it plays nine of 10 games against opponents with winning records. "It's a difficult schedule, a grueling one," Van Gundy said. ... Indiana sent PG Joe Young to its D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne after Friday's win over Miami. ... Pistons C Andre Drummond has at least one steal in every game this season.