Detroit Pistons @ Phoenix Suns
Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 9:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ | Game ID: 22400387
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 26 33 35 31 125DET 41 23 39 30 133
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Cunningham has 28 points, 13 assists to lead the Pistons past the Suns 133-125
PHOENIX -- — Cade Cunningham scored 28 points and had 13 assists, Jalen Duren added 17 points and 11 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons beat the Phoenix Suns 133-125 on Saturday night.
The Pistons dominated the majority of the game and didn't trail after the first few minutes. The Suns cut their deficit to 122-119 with 2:26 left on a pair of free throws by Kevin Durant , but Malik Beasley responded with a corner 3 to thwart the comeback attempt.
Durant scored a season-high 43 points on 14-of-26 shooting and made all 11 of his free throws. Bradley Beal added 26, but the Suns couldn’t overcome 19 turnovers.
Seven Detroit players scored in double figures. Jaden Ivey had 20, Beasley added 18 and Tim Hardaway Jr . scored 16.
Detroit jumped out to a 41-26 lead by the end of the first quarter, scoring 16 points off of seven Phoenix turnovers. The Suns cut the margin to 64-59 by halftime.
The Suns played their first game of the season without four-time All-Star guard Devin Booker , who is out with left groin soreness .
Takeaways Pistons: Detroit's aggressive defense caused the Suns problems all night. The rising Pistons have won three of their past five games.
Suns: They've lost 12 of their last 18 games after starting the season 8-1. Turnovers were the main culprit on Saturday. Booker's absence was certainly a factor, but there's no real excuse for being that sloppy.
Key moment The Suns had a little hope in the final minute, but Cunningham hit a 3-pointer with 33.8 seconds left that pushed the Pistons' lead to seven.
Key stat The Suns shot nearly 62% from the field over the first three quarters but still trailed 103-94, mostly because of turnovers and shoddy defense.
Up next The Pistons are at the Los Angeles Lakers and the Suns are at the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
PHXBB B. Beal
GA G. Allen
JN J. Nurkić
KD K. Durant
MM M. Morris
MP M. Plumlee
NU Nurkic
RD R. Dunn
RO R. O'Neale
TJ T. Jones
DETAT A. Thompson
CC C. Cunningham
JD J. Duren
JI J. Ivey
MB M. Beasley
PR P. Reed
RH R. Holland II
SF S. Fontecchio
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
TH T. Harris
PHX/DET the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur