Final result Pistons vs. Lakers: Bench helps Detroit win in LA

The Detroit Pistons are learning how to make any team in the NBA sweat. This is new for her. The Pistons are also experts at still making their fan base sweat. They have perfected this art over the years.

Although the Lakers built an 11-point lead with three minutes left, it was a one-possession game with the ball in the Lakers’ hands. Luckily, a deep three-pointer from LeBron missed and the Pistons prevailed 117-114.

The win was Detroit’s 13th of the season, meaning they are just one win away from matching last season’s 14-win mark. It’s December 23rd and the Pistons have three games left before we reach 2025, with 53 games left in the season. Can we fire Monty Williams and Troy Weaver again?

Cade Cunningham led the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds and was able to score some crucial baskets late in the lane, but overall it was a down night for the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

The jump shot was far from failing, so Cade had to work hard for his points and ended up having one of his least efficient shooting nights of the season, shooting a total of 9 of 25 goals.

It wasn’t the star who won the game for Detroit, and it wasn’t high-priced free agent signing Tobias Harris, who finished with just six points. No, this game relied on the Bulldog defense of Detroit’s two young wings – Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland.

They pushed every player in front of them and forced deflections, turnovers and bad decisions.

This time, the error-prone Pistons were able to give an opponent a taste of their own medicine. The Pistons managed to force 18 turnovers and get out and run. They finished with 24 fastbreak points and a 28-to-9 advantage in turnovers.

The wings caused problems, the good shots from Malik Beasley and Simone Fontecchio resulted in a difference of 52 to 28 bench points.

We’re used to a flurry of timely threes and hanging around from Beasley, but it’s always nice when Fontecchio finds a groove. He played decent defense, drove into open lanes, didn’t turn the ball over and of course hit his open shots.

None was bigger than what looked like a corner 3-pointer that extended Detroit’s lead to double digits with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

It was originally called an offensive foul, but Detroit won the challenge despite changing the three to a two.

That allowed the Pistons to maintain some momentum with Cade on the bench and weather a few more body blows while Detroit’s most important player got a much-needed break.

He would come into the game with 6:54 left and the lead dwindled to six, but a couple of timely attacks and a putback from Cunningham gave Detroit more breathing room leading to the final moments of the game. One of these drives even looked dirty. Note that Cade still doesn’t receive a friendly whistle.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good vibes and fun. After all, the Pistons know how to make games more interesting than they need to be. A Cunningham putback increased the lead to 117-106 with 3:02 to play. They were the last points Detroit would score that night.

An ugly Cade turnover led to a Max Christie 3 that cut Detroit’s lead from 11 to eight. The Lakers got an offensive rebound the next time, which turned into a James-and-one that cut the ball to five.

Jaden Ivey was caught trying to do too much and moved his pivot foot in a congested lane for a turnover. Jalen Duren was able to beat a layup from Christie, but Detroit could only handle a pretty ugly three-point attempt from Beasley. Another offensive board from the Lakers led to another layup from LeBron and suddenly it was 117-114 with 46 seconds to play. Luckily, it was the last time the Lakers scored.

Cade was able to set up a nice open corner 3 look for Tobias on the ensuing possession that would have put the game on the ice, but Harris snuffed it out. To make matters worse, Harris was called for a foul on a Davis drive on the next pitch, but the Pistons contested the call and won.

That gave the Pistons possession and the opportunity to bleed out almost the entire time. Cade tied the score by holding the ball all the way and missing badly on a 3-point attempt.

The Lakers had one last try, but all they could muster was a poor performance from James, and Detroit won by three. The victory is Detroit’s second in a row and means they can at least split their four-game road trip to the West Coast.

A win Thursday against the Kings would be Detroit’s first three-game winning streak of the season and the first for the team since a trio of season-ending wins in March 2022.