The Detroit Pistons can reach the .500 mark with a win over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. That would be an achievement for a team that finished 14-68 last season.
Detroit has won three straight games and six of its last seven, including a 119-105 victory over Minnesota on Saturday. Cade Cunningham poured in a season-high 40 points with nine assists to offset Anthony Edwards’ career-high 53 points.
“I felt comfortable. My jumper felt good. Really, everything, my teammates, the spacing and everything was great,” Cunningham said. “So I felt like as a whole offensively, we were in a good groove. If the team is flowing like that, I think everybody feels good. So it just carried along throughout the game.”
Even the loss of Cunningham’s backcourt partner, Jaden Ivey, hasn’t slowed down the Pistons. They have won both games since Ivey suffered a fractured fibula against Orlando on Wednesday.
Ausar Thompson moved into the starting lineup on Saturday and made a major impact with his defensive effort. He had 10 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six steals.
“He had (six) steals in the first half. He got deflections, did a good job defensively, helps us play faster,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “That was one of the things versus this team we wanted to do. We knew we needed to play faster and let our athletes kind of run and A.T. did that for us.”
Detroit also continues to get major production from sixth man Malik Beasley, He had 23 points and is averaging 16.3 points for the season.
Monday’s contest wraps up a four-game homestand for the Pistons, though they will also play two of their next three at home. Portland, meanwhile, is in the middle of a five-game road trip.
The Trail Blazers are also feeling some positive vibes after knocking off Milwaukee 105-102 on Saturday. Anfernee Simons led the team in scoring for the third straight game with 28 points and added eight assists.
“When you play well, you expect to win,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. “There’s a lot of times we play well in games and we just don’t come up with it in the end. It just always feels so good to win. We played our behinds off and deserved to win.”
Portland ranks in the bottom 10 in many statistical categories, including rebounding. It showed improvement in that area against the Bucks, outrebounding them 55-43.
“I thought our rebounding was elite and high-level (Saturday),” Billups said. “We did a really, really good job on the glass, which gives you an opportunity to get out there and try to get shots up.”
Billups was the 2004 Finals Most Valuable Player when the Pistons won their last championship. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame last year, and the Pistons will celebrate his Detroit career with a bobblehead giveaway and a video montage.
“I know the atmosphere will be a lot of fun,” Billups said. “They’ve got some things planned for me since I’m going back there for the first time since the Hall of Fame (induction).”
