Cunningham hits scoring milestone in Pistons' 118-112 win over Nets

Detroit — The Pistons ended the third quarter of Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets in explosive fashion.

Cade Cunningham's 10th assist of the night was a dish in transition to James Wiseman, who softly layed the ball into the hoop while getting fouled to give the Pistons a seven-point lead with 59 seconds left in the period. The fourth-year center erupted with a yell as he was embraced with a high-five by Jaden Ivey.

On Detroit's next possession, Wiseman missed a jumphook. However, Ausar Thompson soared from just outside of the interior circle to throw down a tip-slam with one hand over Nets guard Dennis Schroder. Little Caesars Arena erupted and Thompson jogged back on defense with a look of disbelief that he completed the highlight dunk.

The sequence allowed the Pistons to take enough momentum going into the fourth quarter to clinch a 118-112 win over the Nets. Detroit improved to 10-52 to avoid the worst record in NBA history through an 82-game season (Philadelphia 76ers finished 9-73 in 1973).

There were several big performances in the Pistons' latest win, but none more timely than Ivey's offensive explosion. The second-year guard had struggled offensively since the All-Star break, but he broke out of the funk with a team-high 34 points on 10-of-18 from the field. That mark included 6-of-9 from the 3-point line and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

"Just sticking with it," Ivey said after the win. "I feel like the past couple of games, I missed some good ones that I thought I would drop. You just keep on shooting them. I work on it. Like coach says, 'Reps remove doubt.' I just keep going to work every single day — trusting my shot, trusting my work. It's paying off."

Cunningham scored 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, which included a pair of timely midrange jumpers when the Pistons desperately needed to score. He gave the Pistons a seven-point lead with 1:42 left after nailing one from 11 feet away. He also added five rebounds and 11 assists in 38 minutes of action.

Growing pains are a part of the process for young teams. Learning how to maintain double-digit leads is among the many lessons. The Pistons built a commanding 18-point lead in the first quarter, but allowed Brooklyn to score 41 points in the second quarter. They countered the Nets' scoring explosion with a 31-point third quarter, which was concluded by Thompson's big dunk.

"We got the win," said Pistons coach Monty Williams. "I told the guys, 'Sometimes you gotta do just enough to win a game.' I felt like we were a little lethargic. Sometimes that can happen coming off the road and we have guys dealing with colds. I saw guys laboring a lot and at halftime we talked about digging deep. ... We had a much better third (quarter) and that probably was the difference."

The rookie forward had a dynamic impact on both sides of the floor with 14 points, six rebounds and three asssists. He also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on seven attempts.

Cunningham entered Thursday's game needing just 15 points to reach the 2,500-point milestone for his career. He scored seven in the first quarter and reached the mark with the 10:23 mark of the third quarter after a dunk in traffic.

He is the sixth-fastest in NBA history to reach 2,500 points and 800 assists for his career, joining an elite group of players. The other five players are Oscar Robertson (83 games), Allen Iverson (111), Luka Doncic (114), Trae Young (114) and LeBron James (123).

Detroit started the game on an 11-0 run. Every score was inside the paint except for Ivey's first 3-pointer of the game. The Pistons made prioritized getting the ball to Jalen Duren early in the game since he had a size advanatage over Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton.

Duren picked up two fouls in the second quarter for the second consecuitve game, which prompted Monty Williams to insert Simone Fontecchio into the game. Duren only commited one foul for the remainder of the game and finished with a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds on 6-of-8 from the field.

Schroder led Brooklyn with 31 points and eight assists on an efficent 12-of-17 shooting night. He also knocked down five of his six attempts from distance. Lonnie Walker IV added 21 points and four rebounds off the bench. Claxton tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds. Mikal Bridges, who played four seasons for Williams in Phoenix, struggled with 13 points and six assists.

The Pistons' six-game homestand continues Saturday night against the Dallas Mavericks. It'll be the first time the teams meet this season.

mcurtis@detroitnews.com

@MikeACurtis2