NBA

Atlanta Hawks at Detroit Pistons

· National Basketball Association
13-9, 9-5 Away
Final
98 - 99

17-4, 9-2 Home

Cunningham stars late as the Pistons hang on to beat the Hawks 99-98

Detroit's Cade Cunningham puts on a show with snazzy bucket

Atlanta had a chance to win with 0.1 seconds left, but Jalen Johnson couldn't convert a tip-in as time expired.

Jalen Duren had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who won for the 15th time in 17 games. Caris LeVert added 14 points and made two key defensive plays down the stretch.

Johnson had 29 points and 13 rebounds for Atlanta, which had won four of five. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 26 points and Onyeka Okongwu scored 20.

Neither team led by more than five points until LeVert made it 74-68 with the last basket of the third quarter.

Detroit created possessions with relentless pressure on the glass — it had more offensive rebounds than Atlanta had defensive rebounds for much of the game — but gave them back with 22 turnovers in the first three quarters.

Alexander-Walker's 3-pointer tied it at 82 with 7:06 to play, but Cunningham's short jumper put the Pistons up 91-89 with 3:21 to go. LeVert forced turnovers on the next two Atlanta possessions. He turned the first one into a layup, and Cunningham hit two free throws on the second.

That made it 95-89, but Cunningham missed a 3-pointer, and Johnson and Alexander-Walker hit back-to-back 3s to tie the game with 1:12 left.

Cunningham's jumper made it 97-95, and Alexander-Walker missed at the other end. Cunningham then converted a reverse layup in traffic with 17 seconds to play.

Alexander-Walker made another 3-pointer to make it 99-98 with 1.2 seconds left. Daniss Jenkins missed two free throws, and the Hawks called a timeout with 0.1 seconds left.

Up next Hawks: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

Pistons: Visit the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

Regular Season Series

DET leads series 2-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 98 - 99
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 98 - 99
4th 0.1 Keaton Wallace enters the game for Mouhamed Gueye 98 - 99
4th 0.1 Luke Kennard enters the game for Dyson Daniels 98 - 99
4th 0.1 Ausar Thompson enters the game for Daniss Jenkins 98 - 99

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/atl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originATL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/det.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDET
38-89 FG 38-86
43 Field Goal % 44
14-40 3PT 5-26
35 Three Point % 19
8-11 FT 18-24
73 Free Throw % 75
34 Rebounds 60
7 Offensive Rebounds 18
27 Defensive Rebounds 42
27 Assists 18
15 Steals 11
4 Blocks 9
13 Turnovers 22
2 Team Turnovers 1
15 Total Turnovers 23
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
17 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 20
13 Fast Break Points 21
42 Points in Paint 58
16 Fouls 12
5 Largest Lead 7
Detroit Pistons Detroit Pistons Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Ronald Holland II, F Day-To-Day Dec 25
Isaac Jones, C Day-To-Day Dec 23
Atlanta Hawks Atlanta Hawks Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Mouhamed Gueye, F Day-To-Day Dec 25
N'Faly Dante, C Out Dec 23
Eli John Ndiaye, C Out Dec 21
Kristaps Porzingis, C Out Dec 14

Game Information

Little Caesars Arena

Location: Detroit, MI
Attendance: 19,008 · Capacity:

2025-26 Southeast Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Orlando 17 13 .567 - W1
Miami 15 15 .500 2 L3
Atlanta 15 16 .484 2.5 L4
Charlotte 10 20 .333 7 W1
Washington 5 23 .179 11 L2

2025-26 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Detroit 24 6 .800 - W3
Cleveland 17 15 .531 8 L1
Chicago 14 15 .483 9.5 W4
Milwaukee 12 18 .400 12 W1
Indiana 6 24 .200 18 L6
Full Standings

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