All night long, the Detroit Pistons battled not only the Boston Celtics but also the whistle in what was a foul-ridden affair, eventually coming out on top by a 112-105 margin on the road. Cade Cunningham, who has made a habit of steering the Pistons to victory this season, once again led Detroit to a narrow-yet-controlled seven-point win in a hostile environment at TD Garden.

In a game that felt like a precursor to an eventual postseason battle, the Pistons and Celtics pulled no punches in a contentious meeting after Boston was able to manage a slim three-point win in their prior contest this season. This time around, though, the Pistons benefited from Cunningham’s innate desire and will to succeed when the lights shined the brightest– in the final three minutes.

At that time, the refs had already called five fouls on Cunningham, so he was skating on thin ice during the most crucial moments of the game. But instead of letting that pressure warp his decision making, Cunningham hit his stride and delivered mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper to push the Pistons into the lead for good. 

“That’s what we do,” Cunningham said after the game. “We love games like this that it’s tough, it’s muddy and we’ve got to show our grit. That’s what we love about it. I think the game getting that way turns us up more.”

Cunningham finished the night with 32 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and one steal in what was another peerless performance for the MVP candidate but this time with an added long-range component. Though not typically a high-volume three-point shooter, Cunningham took 10 shots from distance on Monday night and connected on six of those attempts, so the fifth-year All-Star entered a dangerous rhythm against a talented Boston team. 

With Cunningham playing a starring role for the Pistons, Jalen Duren was not able to perform like his productive self on Monday night. Duren finished the game with just six points and three rebounds in what was a quiet effort for the Pistons big man. Veteran Caris LeVert scored 13 points with a couple triples to his credit, and Jaden Ivey added 10 more points off the bench as well.

Cade Cunningham Leads The NBA In This Surprising Stat Detroit star point guard Cade Cunningham is in a league of his own for this key category

Celtics Receive Lack Of Support From The Bench

And speaking of the bench, that’s one area where the Celtics were let down with only 14 points coming from the team’s reserve players. So, without much help coming from the bench, Boston leaned on Jaylen Brown and Derrick White to carry the brunt of the scoring load against the Pistons. The pair performed admirably with 34 and 31 points apiece respectively, but the two-man effort was not enough to fend off an elite close-out performance from Cunningham.

Apart from those metrics, the Pistons and Celtics were both mired by foul calls throughout the game. Cunningham picked up a technical foul at one point thanks to an extended discussion he felt like carrying out with an official, and both teams were unhappy with the choppy, stop-and-start flow of the game, particularly in the second half. 

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The Pistons did not shoot particularly well from the foul line, finishing with just a 68% rate from the charity stripe, but the Celtics did not fare much better at 70%. For the Pistons, Ausar Thompson turned in an abysmal performance on free throws with a 1-for-7 outcome, and that alone weighed down the Pistons’ clip from the foul line. 

With a big victory on the road against a Celtics team that looks like a contender, the Pistons are now 21-5 on the season. Detroit will have a couple days off before taking on the Dallas Mavericks on the road on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 8:30 pm. 

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