Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons
· National Basketball Association
Pistons beat East-leading Cavaliers 133-122 and lock down 1st winning season since 2016
Detroit withstood a 38-point performance by Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell, who scored 22 in the fourth quarter.
The Pistons (42-32) played without Cade Cunningham (calf) and were still able to end a 12-game losing streak against Cleveland.
Dennis Schroder started for Cunningham and had 16 points and 10 assists. Jalen Duren added 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Ausur Thompson contributed 18 points and 10 boards for Detroit, which failed to win 25 games in the last five seasons.
The Pistons have eight regular-season games remaining. With three more wins, Detroit could reach 45 victories for the first time since going 59-23 in 2007-08 — also the last season it won a playoff game.
Darius Garland had 21 points for Cleveland, which hadn't lost to the Pistons since Feb. 24, 2022, when current Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was in charge of the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers trailed 108-89 with 8:56 to play and closed within 119-117 on Mitchell's 3-pointer with 3:31 left. Detroit answered with a 12-1 run to close out the win.
Pistons: Cunningham missed his third straight game and is listed as day-to-day.
Regular Season Series
CLE wins series 3-1
Recent Plays
| 4th 0.0 |  |
End of Game | 122 - 133 |
| 4th 0.0 | |
End of the 4th Quarter | 122 - 133 |
| 4th 4.2 |  |
Tim Hardaway Jr. bad pass (Sam Merrill steals) | 122 - 133 |
| 4th 30.2 |  |
Tristan Thompson makes driving layup | 122 - 133 |
| 4th 43.1 | |
Dennis Schroder makes free throw 2 of 2 | 120 - 133 |
Statistics
 CLE |
 DET |
|
|---|---|---|
| 39-84 | FG | 44-92 |
| 46 | Field Goal % | 48 |
| 15-40 | 3PT | 15-34 |
| 38 | Three Point % | 44 |
| 29-38 | FT | 30-35 |
| 76 | Free Throw % | 86 |
| 41 | Rebounds | 43 |
| 11 | Offensive Rebounds | 16 |
| 30 | Defensive Rebounds | 27 |
| 16 | Assists | 25 |
| 9 | Steals | 8 |
| 3 | Blocks | 5 |
| 14 | Turnovers | 13 |
| 1 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 15 | Total Turnovers | 13 |
| 1 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 1 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 17 | Points Conceded Off Turnovers | 14 |
| 6 | Fast Break Points | 25 |
| 44 | Points in Paint | 56 |
| 27 | Fouls | 29 |
| 6 | Largest Lead | 21 |
Detroit Pistons Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Bobi Klintman, F | Out | Dec 8 |
| Tobias Harris, F | Day-To-Day | Dec 6 |
Cleveland Cavaliers Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Jarrett Allen, C | Out | Dec 9 |
| Lonzo Ball, G | Day-To-Day | Dec 6 |
| Tyrese Proctor, G | Out | Dec 6 |
| Sam Merrill, G | Out | Dec 6 |
| Max Strus, G | Out | Dec 2 |
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