The Pistons superstar received the requisite treatment in what was another stellar triple-double outing for Cade Cunningham
On paper, the Pistons had a get-back game on the schedule tonight with the 9-18 Charlotte Hornets in town, but the visiting squad made Cade Cunningham and his teammates sweat for a while before Detroit pulled away for a 26-point win. Detroit's MVP candidate finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on the night, many of which were directed to Pistons center Jalen Duren. As for Duren, the Detroit big man logged 19 points and 11 rebounds in the big Motown win.
Playing at home, the Pistons held a six-point lead entering the second quarter, but a five-plus minute dry spell hampered Detroit’s productivity before halftime. Pistons forward / center Isaiah Stewart broke that scoreless stretch with a big three-pointer, and Detroit corrected its offense to take a 55-45 lead into the break.
Stewart spoke about what the Pistons needed to do to maintain or ideally build on their lead in the second half against the Hornets.
“We do our system, our principles and we’ll be just fine,” Stewart said. “I think we need to do more of that in the second half and everybody just stick to that. The shots are out there for us. It’s just being patient, getting to our spots and running our plays and the shots will be there for us.”
The Pistons carried that momentum into the second half and carved out a comfortable 20-point advantage over Charlotte but let the Hornets back into the game at the start of the fourth quarter.
At one point midway through the final frame, Cunningham stepped to the free throw line with the Pistons in the lead 83-77. The Detroit crowd pelted Cade with smatterings of “MVP” chants as the humble superstar knocked down his foul shots to help the Pistons’ cause.
During that fateful fourth quarter, the Pistons opened up such a large lead that Cunningham was able to sit out the final four minutes of the game with Daniss Jenkins entering the contest in his spot.
Detroit did not need much help from its bench to pick up the victory. Tobias Harris scored 16, Duncan Robinson added 15 points and Ausar Thompson contributed 14 more for good measure in what was a balanced offensive display from the top team in the Eastern Conference.
From a team perspective, the Pistons held the Hornets to 31% FG shooting on the night, grabbed 19 more rebounds than Charlotte and dominated the points in the paint battle by a 66-28 margin. These were crucial areas that allowed for the Pistons to cruise towards victory tonight after suffering a tough loss to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime two days prior.
With tonight’s double-digit win in the books, the Pistons move to 22-6 on the season and keep a firm hold on their top seed in the East. This was the Pistons’ final home game of the calendar year, and Detroit will hit the road for a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, Dec. 22 at 10 pm.
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