DETROIT — A late foul from Cam Whitmore sent Little Caesars Arena into a frenzy. The 21-year-old Washington Wizards wing sprinted from half court to contest a Cade Cunningham dunk attempt and sent the Detroit Pistons’ franchise player crashing to the hardwood.
There was 4:27 remaining in regulation when Cunningham rolled over, rubbing his lower back. Whitmore stood over him with a glare that ignited the crowd and simultaneously spurred the Pistons’ comeback. Detroit was staring down an eight-point deficit, and Cunningham was helped back to the bench as fans showered him with “MVP!” chants usually reserved for his free-throw attempts.
Cunningham briefly walked into the tunnel before returning to lead the Pistons in outscoring the Wizards 31-21 for the rest of regulation and overtime. Whitmore’s foul rallied Detroit, leading the Pistons to a 137-135 win on Monday.
Whitmore and Cunningham had been jawing back and forth throughout the evening. Cunningham finished with a career-high 46 points on 14-of-45 shooting, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two blocks. Of course, Cunningham’s shot attempts marked a career high as well. His aggression was necessary given the Pistons were without Ausar Thompson (right ankle), Tobias Harris (right ankle), Jaden Ivey (right knee), Isaiah Stewart (left ankle), Caris LeVert (left knee) and Marcus Sasser (right hip).
“I didn’t like the way that it happened,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Whitmore’s foul postgame. “When you take a guy out of the air like that, you don’t walk up on him. I thought (the officials) could have done a better job of controlling that situation. … It shows the courage of Cade, the resilience of Cade, the want to not let his teammates down.
“He could’ve stayed in the back, very easily, with what he was going through. But he didn’t want to give up. He wanted to continue to fight even when we were down, and he led us to the victory.”
J.B. Bickerstaff on Cam Whitmore’s late foul on Cade Cunningham and how Cade responded:
“I didn’t like the way that it happened, and that’s the most important thing. … It shows the courage of Cade, the resilience of Cade, the want to not let his teammates down.” pic.twitter.com/fM5mOT8Euz
— Hunter Patterson (@HunterPatterson) November 11, 2025
While Cunningham attempted nearly 40 percent of the Pistons’ shots Monday, Daniss Jenkins hit the shot of the night to send the game to overtime. It was a career outing for the second-year guard, who’s still on a two-way contract. He finished with 24 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range and drained a triple on what Bickerstaff admitted was not a play drawn up for him.
Jenkins, who went undrafted in 2024, was ready when the ball found him.
“I knew what I was capable of,” Jenkins said, as his teammates hyped him up during his first postgame locker room media scrum. “I just know my capabilities. I know how hard I work, and I know my preparation for this moment.”
Asked Daniss Jenkins what he’d say if someone told him a year ago he’d be in position to have the career night he just had.
“I knew what I was capable of. … I just know my capabilities. I know how hard I work, and I know my preparation for this moment. I’d believe them.” pic.twitter.com/GeMq5QPWfn
— Hunter Patterson (@HunterPatterson) November 11, 2025
While Cunningham nearly had his first 50-piece, Washington made it difficult on him from the opening tip. He missed some shots he usually knocks down, including a few bunnies, and the Wizards had a scheme to make him work for each attempt.
“Put bodies on him and put him in space, try to keep him off the free-throw line,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said postgame. “You’re never going to stop great players in this league from scoring. I thought we had multiple guys guard him tonight. We had Kyshawn (George). We had Khris (Middleton), Cam Whitmore. We had Alex (Sarr) switching onto him.
“We were mixing up coverages. You have to do that with the great players in this league. We tried to make him as inefficient as possible, but he’s a great player.”
Cunningham shot 16-of-18 from the free-throw line Keefe wanted to keep him away from. Sure he made more free throws than field goals Monday, but it was a game that called for Cunningham to unload as many field-goal attempts required to walk away with the win.
Efficiency is what all generally strive for on the offensive end. Some nights, though, a team’s star player has to be relentless in his approach — whether they’re finding the bottom of the net more often than they miss or not.
This was one of those nights.
It wasn’t pretty as far as the box score and shooting percentages were concerned, but the final score trumped each of Cunningham’s misses. He was aggressive from start to finish and ultimately guided the Pistons to their seventh consecutive win. Both Cunningham and Javonte Green, who made big plays down the stretch, were tied for a game-high plus-10.
“I don’t know how much he missed,” Wizards guard CJ McCollum, who had a 42-point outing, said of Cunningham. “But I think we guarded him collectively. We tried to show bodies. He’s a really good player. He’ll be All-NBA again. He’ll be an All-Star again. And when it’s said and done, he’ll be one of the best Detroit Pistons players of all time.”
Between Cunningham’s triple-double, Jalen Duren’s seventh double-double in 11 games, Jenkins’ career night and Green flying around causing havoc, Detroit just wanted it more. It’s been the theme of the Pistons’ season thus far. Monday was the latest example of Detroit “controlling chaos.”
The Pistons were down a slew of bodies and still found a way, on the second night of back-to-back games to remain atop the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve been in a lot of these types of games,” Duren said, as he soaked his feet in an ice bucket at his locker. “Where it’s nasty, it comes down to the wire … we came together and got it done.”
— The Athletic’s Josh Robbins contributed to this report.
