Two days after a narrow loss in Detroit’s season opener, the Pistons righted the ship with a four-point win in what was a physical, contentious and foul-ridden affair against the Rockets on the road, 115-111. In Detroit’s victory, the first of the season for the squad, Cade Cunningham had a near-triple double with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, but that’s become a fairly typical night at the office for Cunningham. 

In the heated road game, it became apparent early on that foul trouble and injury woes were going to dictate Detroit’s lineup tonight, then Jalen Duren’s second-quarter ejection complicated matters even further. In the first quarter, Ausar Thompson picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, and his replacement, Ron Holland II, snagged a trio of personal fouls of his own just minutes after. So, the Pistons were short-handed right off the bat, but the Pistons held tight despite the early foul trouble.

Fortunately for Detroit, the Rockets served as a get-right game for Duncan Robinson, and the veteran sharp-shooter drilled a couple threes in the first quarter. Isaiah Stewart was more than effective early on, and he joined the party with a triple of his own, but the Pistons began a worrisome trend of struggling from the free throw line. 

In the second quarter, the Rockets led by one early on but were called for a rare technical thanks to six Houston players remaining on the floor during play. Not long after, Thompson was wrapped into a loose-ball dust-up, then Amen Thompson fought with Duren under the rim with both earning technicals for the exchange. 

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From there, the game took a decidedly physical turn. On the next possession, Duren went for a swim move at the top of the key across Thompson’s body, and his left elbow clobbered the Houston defender in the head. So, the refs gathered for yet another review, and Duren was promptly kicked out of the game with a Flagrant 2.

By halftime, the Pistons managed to form a seven-point lead at 63-56 with Robinson connecting on four three-point shots. Thompson equalled his teammate’s point total with 12 of his own, and Cunningham had seven points and six assists at the break.

Detroit goes deep on the bench after halftime

In the third quarter, Detroit had its lowest-scoring frame of the night with just 24 points to Houston’s 30. So, it took the Pistons a little bit of time to adjust after the break, but Detroit was a bit thin in its lineup options all night. Paul Reed logged a handful of minutes in the third quarter, and Javonte Green totalled 17 through three quarters as a result. Unfortunately, Stewart picked up his fifth foul in the quarter to limit Detroit’s options further, but the Pistons held an 87-86 lead entering the fourth.

With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Cunningham rose to the occasion once again. Detroit’s All-Star guard nailed a key three-pointer followed by a timely block with around four minutes left, and he continued to get his teammates involved with nine assists on the night despite constantly fighting off double and triple-teams.

From that point on, Cunningham essentially iced the game for Detroit at the free throw line as the Pistons overcame a 37-point shooting clinic from Kevin Durant to notch the team’s first win of the 2025-26 regular season. 

The Pistons had a total of five players reach double-figures in scoring as Robinson, Cunningham, Thompson, Reed and Holland all cleared that threshold in the road game. 

It should be noted that overall in the battle against his twin, Thompson is now 2-2 in the brotherly series. For Detroit’s Thompson, the dynamic forward logged 19 points, four assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block on the night. 

After this, the Pistons home opener will come on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 3:30 pm against the Boston Celtics at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. 

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