Cade Cunningham had 32 points, nine assists and six rebounds and the host Detroit Pistons won their season-high fourth straight game with a 118-115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
Tim Hardaway Jr. supplied 26 points, Tobias Harris contributed 17 and Jalen Duren added 14 with 12 rebounds as the Pistons reached the .500 mark for the first time this season.
Anfernee Simons led six Portland players in double figures with 36 points and chipped in nine assists. Shaedon Sharpe had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Deandre Ayton added 18 points with 11 boards.
Detroit forward Ausar Thompson was a late scratch due to an illness.
The Trail Blazers led 60-51 at halftime.
Portland led 28-23 after the first quarter, then scored the first 17 points of the second quarter. Sharpe and Simons each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during that outburst.
The Pistons responded with a 17-2 run to cut the Trail Blazers’ lead to 47-40. Cunningham scored 11 points during that span.
Sharpe and Deni Avdija made 3-pointers to push Portland’s advantage to 13 before Duren scored the last two baskets of the half.
The Pistons continued to chip away at the beginning of the second half. They went on a 12-2 run to take the lead. Cunningham had three baskets and Duren contributed a pair of dunks.
Neither team led by more than four points the remainder of the quarter. Portland was clinging to a 90-88 advantage as the fourth quarter began.
Simons made a dunk and a midrange jumper during the first three minutes of the quarter to stretch the Trail Blazers’ lead to 97-90. Detroit scored the next eight points to regain the lead.
Kris Murray halted that run with a 3-pointer. Hardaway and Simons traded 3-pointers on the next four possessions. After a timeout, Hardaway made a midrange shot and a 3-pointer to give the Pistons a 109-106 lead.
Portland pulled within a point, but Malik Beasley’s 3-pointer — his first points of the game — with 54 seconds left gave Detroit some breathing room. An Ayton dunk was answered by a Duren slam. A turnover by Simons on Phoenix’s last possession sealed Detroit’s victory.
–Field Level Media
