Jalen Duren on Pistons 10-game win streak on eve of 22nd birthday
Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren on 10 straight wins on Monday: “It’s the work we put in. … I think culture, honesty everything plays a part in it.”
Cade Cunningham returned from a three-game absence Tuesday, Nov. 18, and led the way as the Detroit Pistons extended their longest winning streak in 18 years.
The superstar guard, who suffered a left hip contusion after a nasty fall against the Washington Wizards last week, scored 25 points and dished 10 assists as the Pistons defeated the Atlanta Hawks, 120-112, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on the second night of a back-to-back for their 11th win in a row.
Jalen Duren added 24 points and eight rebounds on his 22nd birthday for the Pistons (13-2), who lead the Eastern Conference by three games over Cleveland.
Ausar Thompson returned from a four-game absence due to a right ankle sprain and tallied six points and three blocks off the bench. Daniss Jenkins, in his fourth consecutive start, finished with 14 points and seven assists.
The Pistons were in control most of the first half and led 67-54 at the half. But their hot offense cooled by the fourth quarter, missing eight of the first 10 shots as the Hawks whittled a lead that grew as big as 19 in the second quarter to 99-98 with 6:50 to play.Â
A quick 9-0 Pistons run built the lead to 108-98 with under 4 minutes to go before the Hawks made one last push. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored eight consecutive points — a 3-pointer, a three-point play and a pair of free throws — to cut it to two.Â
Cunningham closed out the game, snapping a two-minute, 28-second draught with a midrange jumper with 1:20 to play. The following possession, he drove coast-to-coast and finished a tough layup through Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu to make it a two-possession game with under a minute left, 112-106.
Isaiah Stewart added more cushion with a pair of free throws to extend the lead to eight with 30 seconds left, and Duren made six straight free throws.
The Hawks (9-6) saw their five-game win streak snapped, and were without star point guard Trae Young (knee) and two other starters.
Cade Cunningham conducts Pistons offense, closes out win
In his first game back, Cunningham ran the show and created open look after open look for his teammates, who did their part by knocking down most of them. He had 10 points and more assists (eight) than shot attempts (six) at halftime as he led them to a 67-54 lead. As a team, they shot 64.1% overall and had 19 assists on 25 field goals.Â
The Pistons’ offense stalled early in the third quarter, so Cunningham started hunting for his shot more in the second half. He only made three of his 10 attempts in the period but led a 13-5 Pistons run to extend their lead back to 13 after a 13-4 Hawks run cut it to five.Â
Early in the fourth, he knocked down a deep pull-up 3 pointer as time expired to extend the lead to 97-84. The bucket preceded his daggers at the end of the game, which added to his reputation as one of the league’s most-clutch players this season.
He entered the game as the league leader in fourth-quarter points per game with 11.4, and led the Pistons on Tuesday with nine in the final period.Â
Chaz Lanier settling into rookie role
The rookie wing played at least 18 minutes in the Pistons’ past four games leading into Tuesday. He put together his best stretch of the season in the second quarter against the Hawks, knocking down three of his four attempts from 3 as the Pistons opened a 19-point lead midway through the quarter.Â
Drive and kicks from Cunningham created three open 3-pointers for Lanier, and he knocked down two.
Thompson’s return cut Lanier’s minutes to 11 for this game, but his nine points set a new career-high.Â
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