LOS ANGELES — Cade Cunningham sized up Austin Reaves with roughly 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, hoping to close the door on the Los Angeles Lakers the same way he slammed the door shut on the Phoenix Suns two days earlier. This time, Cunningham’s 3-point attempt, on the opposite side of the floor as the one he drained over Kevin Durant, missed badly.
An Anthony Davis screen on the ensuing play freed LeBron James of Cunningham, who guarded James for a good portion of the evening, but James’ deep 3-point attempt bounced off the front rim and also missed. The Detroit Pistons walked away with a 117-114 win to register four wins in their last six games and improve to 13-17.
The highlight of the night for Cunningham came earlier against Reaves and James. Cunningham caught a pass from Jalen Duren in transition, gave Reaves an in-and-out, behind-the-back move and finished a tough right-handed layup off the glass over James at the rim.
More importantly, the Pistons will have an opportunity Thursday to defeat the Sacramento Kings and win their 14th game, matching their win total from last season in just 31 games. Detroit, now 2-0 on its four-game West Coast holiday road trip, can also use this win as a springboard for more success.
Over their last two wins, the Pistons are averaging 62 second-half points on 52.7 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range while turning it over seven times. They hung those numbers on two teams that entered their matchups against Detroit with winning records.
The Pistons are still working toward .500, but each win is viewed internally as a necessary building block to reach the success the organization hopes to achieve.
“We are looking at this season in steps,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We are not going to skip any steps. You’ll be graded on the progress that’s made. If you go back to the beginning of the year, to some of the close games we had, to game (number) 30 tonight and how we were able to execute down the stretch and pull out a tough game like this on the road against a very good team who’s been playing well.
“We’ve taken steps in the right direction, and we’ve just got to continue to build on it.”
GO DEEPER
Cade Cunningham says Kevin Durant’s praise of his game ‘validates my work’
It also helps when you have a first-time Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Cunningham finished with 20 points, a team-high 10 assists, five rebounds and a steal. But he earned the nod for averaging 27 points on 49.2 percent and 40.9 percent from 3, 12.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and a steal per game from Dec. 16 through Dec. 22. He also led the Pistons to a 2-1 record with wins over the Miami Heat and Suns.
Saturday night in Phoenix, Durant was complimentary of the 23-year-old guard, saying this is Cunningham’s “year to be an All-Star, take off and go to that next level.”
Monday night in Los Angeles, James praised Cunningham after taking a loss from the young man who was born just two years before James was drafted.
“He’s just too big,” James said of Cunningham. “He’s got wide shoulders, big legs and he knows exactly what he’s doing. And he gets to it. Solid player. Very, very solid. He’s gotten better and better, and the best thing I think this year is that he’s been healthy. He was the No. 1 pick, right? That’s for a reason. They got a great one.”
While Cunningham understands his value and is thankful for the love from players he grew up appreciating, he’s often credited his success this season to his teammates.
Malik Beasley helped add stock to Cunningham’s sentiments Monday, finishing with a team-high 21 points on a game-high 5-of-10 shooting from long range to go with five rebounds and no turnovers. Beasley is now tied with Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Anthony Edwards for the most made 3s (116) in the NBA this season. He was the beneficiary of two of Cunningham’s 10 assists Monday as well.
The Florida State product has made multiple triples in 25 of his 30 games this season. In December, Beasley has made at least five 3s in six of Detroit’s eight games. He even launched a career-high 19 3-point attempts in last week’s loss to the Utah Jazz, making seven.
“I’ve put in the work, but I think the most credit I’ve got to give is to my teammates,” Beasley said. “The game I shot 19 3s, after like the 14th 3, they were like, ‘Keep shooting, keep shooting. We need you.’ And the support from your teammates is huge. I’ve just got to continue to do my job, continue to make shots at a high rate and a good percentage and continue to trust the work.”
Beasley’s 16.4 points per game are on pace to be his highest-scoring season since 2020-21 when he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s also on pace to match his career high in 3-point shooting at 41.3 percent from last season with the Milwaukee Bucks — only this time he’s also on pace for a career-high in volume on 9.3 attempts per game. Beasley is offering the spacing as a 3-point threat Cunningham has needed his entire career.
The back half of Detroit’s trip begins in Sacramento against the Kings before it wraps against the Nuggets in Denver. Both are formidable opponents who will offer the Pistons great opportunities to show how serious they are about maintaining this level of play.
2-0 on the trip so far? The Eastern Conference Player of the Week wants more!#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/OGSuuOh5Hp
— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) December 24, 2024
“We feel good,” Cunningham said on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit. “Job’s not finished yet, we want to finish the year strong. Two more games on this road trip and still a lot of work to do.”
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(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
