Cade Cunningham – 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists – and Saddiq Bey – 25 points and five rebounds – went big as the Detroit Pistons outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-103 at Little Caesars Arena to earn their third win of the season on a day where all 30 NBA teams are in action.
Cunningham, who Detroit drafted number one overall in last year’s draft, is now averaging 21.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 6.4 apg in 11 games this season.
Luka Dončić and LeBron James are the only players younger than Cunningham to have averaged 21+ ppg, 6+ rpg and 6+ apg for an entire season.
The Pistons were also buoyed by rookie guard Jaden Ivey who finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks on 6-of-15 from the field.
Hamidou Diallo added 11 points on 4-of-6 from the field and eight rebounds off the bench whilst Isaiah Stewart had 11 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The Thunder ended the first quarter with a solid spurt before dominating the second period 30-20 to take a 15-point lead into halftime.
Detroit’s fightback was sparked in the third quarter in which they regained the lead before finishing the game on a 27-17 run.
The Pistons were plus-17 in the rebounding battle which proved the catalyst for their win.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his All-Star calibre play with a game-high 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks on 13-of-23 from the field.
Bench veterans Mike Muscala – 11 points on 3-of-7 from three – and Kenrich Williams – 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists – were the only other Thunder players to reach double-digits.
Josh Giddey had a difficult night finishing with just nine points, six rebounds and two assists on 4-of-12 from the field whilst Lu Dort had just seven points on 3-of-12 from the field.
The Thunder are now 4-6 on the year and sit 11th in the Western Conference and will host the Bucks on Thursday.
The Pistons, meanwhile, improved to 3-8 which is the second-worst mark out East and are in Boston on Thursday to meet the Celtics.
