With Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson back in the lineup, the Detroit Pistons were able to survive a late surge from the Atlanta Hawks to win 120-112 on the road, and on the second night of a back-to-back
no less.
Cunningham scored 25 points and added 10 assists after missing three games to injury, while Jalen Duren continued his dominant streak with 24 points and eight rebounds. Ausar Thompson had six points and three blcocks in 23 minutes off the bench after being lost for four games to injury.
The Detroit Pistons were looking tired in the fourth quarter. After three quarters of solid execution and stout defense, the shots stopped falling and the legs were looking dead on both ends of the floor. The Pistons had a 16-point lead with under a minute to go in the third quarter that dwindled all the way down to one with 6:50 left in the fourth.
The Pistons went 2-of-11 to start the fourth and every solid defensive possession was wasted as Detroit kept surrendering offensive rebounds and second-chance points to the Hawks. When a Dyson Daniels layup made the game 99-98 Detroit, it looked like the Pistons might have finally run out of gas.
Then Detroit did what it’s always done during this amazing winning streak. It found another gear. The next three minutes are really a microcosm of what makes this Detroit team tick — what makes it special.
Dannis Jenkins, starting alongside Cade, picked Daniels’ pocket near midcourt and cruised in for a transition slam dunk to bump the lead back up to three. On the next possession, the Pistons forced a shot clock violation and scored on a Duncan Robinson layup. On the following possession, Duncan Robinson got a steal, and Jalen Duren earned himself a trip to the free-throw line. On the following possession, Jalen Johnson got his shot swallowed by Ausar Thompson, which led to another Duren score in the paint, and then blocked a Daniels layup. Jenkins took the ball into the paint and found a cutting Ausar Thompson for an easy dunk at the rim.
Suddenly, a one-point Detroit lead ballooned to nine with 3:48 remaining. For those counting at home, that was five consecutive Atlanta possessions that ended as follows — steal, shot clock violation, steal, block, block. And the Pistons scored points on every ensuing possession.
That is how you grind out a win even when you’re dead tired on a back-to-back. That is how you win 11th straight. That is how you earn yourself a No. 1 seed in the East.
