The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years.
It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points.
Photo: AFP
It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015 season.
The Clippers (31-26) got within five points late in the game, but Cunningham made a pair of free throws and then drained a three-pointer to secure the win.
Detroit’s push for a playoff spot comes after they finished with the worst regular season record in the NBA for the past two seasons.
Last season Detroit lost 28 games in a row, the longest single-season losing streak and tied for the longest losing run overall in NBA history.
Much of the credit for the turnaround in form goes to Cunningham, whose coach J.B. Bickerstaff was full of praise for the 23-year-old.
“You talk about leadership, you talk about understanding the moment and what that was going to push the rest of the group to do. When the guys see him diving on the floor no one is going to see a loose ball on the floor and not make the effort,” he said.
“I’ve been amazed by his understanding and his recognition of the moment and his impact on each and every moment. I’ll say it and say it and say it, but we could not be more fortunate than to have a guy like him here leading the show,” he added.
Meanwhile, after 57 games, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points this season. Of course, Marcus Smart was not around for most of those.
Smart and the Wizards held Brooklyn to 12 points in the fourth quarter of their 107-99 victory over the Nets. Washington was the only team in the NBA that had not kept an opponent in double digits this season, but the Wizards finally did it in Smart’s second game with them after he was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies.
“It took everybody,” Smart said. “That Brooklyn team as we all know, they don’t back down from nobody. They’re going to come out and test you on both ends.”
Elsewhere, the Western Conference leaders, the Oklahoma City Thunder, suffered a 131-128 overtime loss at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Nikola Jokic’s career-best 19 assists helped the Denver Nuggets, second in the Western Conference, beat the Indiana Pacers 125-116.
The Chicago Bulls topped the Philadelphia 76ers 142-110, the Sacramento Kings overpowered the Charlotte Hornets 130-88, the Atlanta Hawks survived the Miami Heat 98-86 and the Portland Trail Blazers edged the Utah Jazz 114-112.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with AP
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