Cade Cunningham had 25 points and eight assists as Detroit won its home opener, downing the Boston Celtics 119-113 on Sunday afternoon.
Jalen Duren supplied 24 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons (2-1). Duren had been ejected from Detroit’s previous game at Houston for throwing a flagrant elbow. Ausar Thompson contributed 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Tobias Harris added 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics (0-3) with 41 points. Payton Pritchard had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Derrick White added 15 points and Anfernee Simons chipped in 12.
The Celtics led by as much as 17 points in the first half but the Pistons rallied to take a 60-58 halftime lead. Duncan Robinson gave Detroit its first lead in the final minute of the half on a 3-pointer. Harris led the Pistons with 14 points, while Brown carried the Celtics with 23 points.
The Pistons took command in the third quarter, which ended with the home team up 94-81.
White’s 3-pointer with 8:37 left in the quarter gave Boston its last lead at 68-66. Detroit scored the next eight points, capped by a Duren dunk. Duren scored six points during a 9-0 Detroit spurt for an 88-74 advantage. Ron Holland’s dunk with 33 seconds left provided the final points in the quarter.
A pair of Cunningham free throws in the first minute of the fourth extended the Pistons’ lead to 15. The Celtics then began to chip away, going on a 10-2 run with Josh Minott scoring eight of those points.
The Pistons held a nine-point lead with just under six minutes left. White knocked down a 3-pointer to keep the pressure on and Pritchard soon made a layup to cut Detroit’s lead to 109-106.
A dunk and a layup by Thompson gave the Pistons some breathing room. Brown’s free throws with 1:13 remaining reduced Detroit’s lead to 117-113. Harris scored on a putback and Boston came up empty during its final two possessions.
