Cade Cunningham paired 29 points with 11 assists as the visiting Detroit Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic 106-92 on Sunday.
Cunningham also had six rebounds for the league-leading Pistons, who overcame some early shooting woes to crush the Magic 31-18 and 25-17 across the last two quarters.
Tobias Harris scored 23 points for Detroit, while Jalen Duren posted 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Ausur Thompson compiled nine points, 11 boards and three blocks.
Paolo Banchero had 24 points and 11 assists for Orlando, Tristan da Silva added 19 and Desmond Bane chipped in with 17 points and seven assists.
Rebounds and turnovers were issues for the Magic early, and the hosts had 11 fewer shot attempts, but they led 26-23 after one quarter thanks to Detroit’s 9-of-28 shooting, including 0 of 10 from deep.
Orlando’s lead grew to nine points as the Pistons missed their first 15 3-point attempts.
Cunningham posted 15 points and five assists at the half for Detroit, while Banchero had 17 at the main break, including 12 of 14 free-throw attempts, as the Magic held sway 57-50.
The Pistons upped their defensive pressure and discovered their shooting radar, pinching their first lead of the night when Harris stuck a three for 67-65 with 6:44 left in the third frame.
Cunningham scored 10 points for the period and Harris had nine, while Orlando went 7 of 21 and was outrebounded 14-9.
Despite da Silva draining his third three in the dying stages, Detroit dominated for 12 minutes to lead 81-75 going into the fourth.
Bane knocked down a trey early in the final period to knot the score at 83, before the Pistons used a 14-2 burst to sprint clear 97-85.
A pair of Banchero buckets — including a dunk — trimmed Detroit’s buffer to 101-92 with 1:17 left, before Thompson scored the last five points of the contest.
–Field Level Media
