Cade Cunningham on Pistons start: ‘We’re where we’re supposed to be’
Cade Cunningham on his dunk, Jalen Duren’s defense and being 8-2 just 2 years after a disastrous season, following win in Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 2025.
On the second night of a back-to-back, on the heels of a two-game road trip with a depleted roster, Detroit Pistons two-way guard Daniss Jenkins and Cade Cunningham delivered career nights at home against the Washington Wizards.
Jenkins scored 16 of his career-high 24 points in the fourth quarter and sent the game into overtime with two 3-pointers in the final three seconds, including the game-tying 3 at the buzzer. Jenkins also grabbed eight rebounds, and he and Cunningham, who had a monster triple-double with a career-high 46 points (on 14-for-45 shooting, or 31.1%), 12 rebounds and 11 assists, were electric as the Pistons erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Wizards in overtime, 137-135.
It was a duel between the Pistons’ guard duo and Wizards veteran guard CJ McCollum, who scored 42 points on 14-for-26 shooting. Jalen Duren added a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Cunningham scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and made it a one-possession game, 124-121, with 32.4 seconds left after getting inside for a layup. After a pair of free throws from McCollum, Jenkins knocked down a 3-pointer to bring the Pistons back within two. They got the ball back with 1.9 seconds left down 127-124 after Wizards guard Keyonte George split a trip at the line, setting up Jenkins’ second 3 to extend the game to overtime.
Duncan Robinson drained a 3-pointer at the 1:04 mark of overtime to give the Pistons a one-point lead, 134-133. With 25.2 seconds remaining, Duren found Javonte Green cutting baseline for a dunk to extend their lead to three. With the Pistons nursing a one-point lead 136-135 at the 17.5 second mark, Duren split a trip at the free throw line.
McCollum’s 3-point attempt on the other end hit the side of the backboard. Paul Reed missed two free throws with an opportunity to ice the game, but McCollum’s game-tying attempt on the final possession missed.
The Pistons were without six rotation players, as Ausar Thompson (right ankle sprain) and Caris LeVert (left knee injury management) were ruled out a day after helping the Pistons defeat the Philadelphia 76ers on the road a night prior, 111-108. Tobias Harris (right ankle sprain) missed his fifth-straight game and Isaiah Stewart (left ankle sprain) missed his second-straight.
Injury report keeps growing for Pistons
The Pistons already were shorthanded heading into the game before LeVert and Thompson were added to it, with both Harris and Stewart nursing ankle sprains and Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser having yet to make their season debuts. They looked lethargic and clearly missed their two top defenders in Thompson and Stewart, as well as Harris’ versatility at the four.
Additionally, Cunningham looked tired a night after clinching a win over the Sixers. His 45 shot attempts marked his career-high and he missed open jumpers and could’t capitalize on opportunities at the rim through most of the night. As Cunningham dealt with dead legs and tried to shoot himself into a rhythm, Washington knocked down 14 of its 24 attempts in the third period (58.3%) and outscored the Pistons 35-20 to take a nine-point lead, 96-87.
Though Cunningham had a good statistical night by the end of the quarter – 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists – he also made just two of his 12 shot attempts in the third as the Pistons went 7-for-27 (25.9%). He also had an injury scare with 4:27 left in the final period, falling hard on his tailbone after Wizards forward Cam Whitmore knocked him to the floor on a fastbreak dunk attempt.
Cunningham needed to be helped off of the floor, but he returned to shoot two free throws after a brief trip to the locker room and stayed in the game. As has been the usual for him this season, the final period was his best as he made three of six shot attempts and all eight of his free throws to lead the Pistons’ comeback.
Jenkins, bench take advantage of opportunity
Toward the end of the first quarter, J.B. Bickerstaff deployed a lineup we’d yet to see this season – Cunningham, Reed, second-year forward Bobi Klintman, rookie Chaz Lanier and Jenkins.
A weakened rotation allowed the Pistons’ seldom-used players to get early playing time on Monday. Lanier was the first player off the bench at the 7:35 mark after Ron Holland picked up his second foul and was active in his minutes, knocking down three shots – including a pair of 3-pointers – and grabbing two rebounds. Klintman played the final three minutes of the opening quarter and made his lone shot attempt – a 3-pointer – and also grabbed an offensive rebound and immediately found Reed open underneath the rim for a dunk.
Jenkins had the best night of the three, setting career highs in points, rebounds and steals. He made a pair of buckets including a shoulder bump layup, and a pair of free throws to help the Pistons pull within two points at the end of the first quarter.
That five-man unit returned midway through the third quarter. A running hook from Jenkins brought the Pistons within two, 87-85, at the three-minute mark of the period. But it overall was a rough quarter for them. The Wizards answered Jenkins’ bucket with a 7-0 run, with a hook from former Pistons big man Marvin Bagley III pushing the lead to nine.
Jenkins played the entire fourth quarter, and it was his best quarter, with his 16 points coming on 6-for-7 shooting.
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X @omarisankofa.
