Cade Cunningham sank two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining, and the Detroit Pistons held on for a 115-111 road victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday.
Cunningham scored 10 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and added seven rebounds and nine assists to his ledger. The Pistons, bolstered by reserve center Paul Reed (13 points, nine rebounds), also received strong performances from Ausar Thompson (19 points) and Duncan Robinson (17 points, four 3-pointers) to round out their balanced attack.
Cunningham initiated his takeover early in the fourth, drilling a pair of 3-pointers while assisting on another to Javonte Green. There were four ties and four lead changes in the final quarter, but, when Cunningham assisted on an Ausar Thompson layup with 3:01 remaining, the Pistons led 111-105.
The Rockets clawed to within 113-111 on an Alperen Sengun free throw at the 1:32 mark, but Reed blocked a Sengun driving layup attempt with 16.4 seconds left to preserve that margin.
Kevin Durant paced the Rockets with 37 points while Sengun added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. But Sengun missed 13 of 18 shots for Houston, which shot just 38.6% from the field and surrendered 52 paint points..
Durant and Sengun shot a combined 5 for 14 in the opening period, and Detroit, by virtue of its offensive rebounding and three-point shooting, seized a 25-16 lead before the Rockets replied.
Keyed by a Durant three-point play and buoyed by treys from Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard, the Rockets turned a 15-2 run into a 31-27 lead. Houston led 33-32 entering the second courtesy of a Sengun buzzer-beater, but that period devolved into a foul-plagued slog.
Jalen Duran earned a flagrant-2 foul and an ejection for elbowing Amen Thompson in the jaw at the 6:29 mark of the period. Thompson and Isaiah Stewart both had four fouls by the intermission, and the teams combined for 30 fouls in the first half. Ausar Thompson used a six-point burst in the waning moments to prop up the Pistons, who led 63-56 at the break.
