Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images Cade Cunningham and Detroit’s defense led the Pistons to the win. The Detroit Pistons have a tough stretch of games right now, and none more important than the one they played tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. Both teams are looking to avoid the play-in tournament to make the playoffs as the 6th seed, but Detroit was able to bring the intense defense the Pistons have been known for in a tough 114-104 win over the Hawks. The turnaround Detroit has had since last season continues to be something I struggle to wrap my head around, but they played some really impressive ball tonight. Detroit started the game on fire as they shot 64% from the field and 67% from deep in the first quarter. Cade Cunningham looked comfortable with one of the NBA’s best defenders in Dyson Daniels on him as he led Detroit with seven points and three assists. Jalen Duren picked up his second foul a few minutes into the game after he was on the wrong end of a nasty Jalen Johnson poster. Simone Fontecchio and Malik Beasley supplied the bench scoring as Detroit led 36-26 at the end of the first. Malik Beasley and Simone Fontecchio's hot shooting continued in the second, as they both hit from deep. The bench's ability to contribute with Cade sitting is massive for this team—the score was 24-21 when Cade sat, and it was 51-37 when he returned. It’s one thing for the bench unit to hold the lead, but they were able to extend it by 11 points. Cade continued to cook once he was back on the floor. He was able to get to his spots in the midrange, and when the defense collapsed, he was finding his shooters for open threes - he just needs to cut down on the turnovers. Cunningham had 15 points and five assists as Detroit entered halftime with a 69-51 lead - their largest halftime lead of the season. Beasley (13 points) and Fontecchio (10 points) combined for five threes off the bench. Detroit shot 54% from the field and 50% from three in the first half. I want to point out how well Detroit’s defensive rotations looked. They limited Atlanta to shooting 3-for-20 from deep. I usually feel that some players are slow on closeouts or lack the engagement to guard on the perimeter, but that was not the case in the first half tonight. If Trae got into the lane to kick it out to a shooter, Detroit was rotating seamlessly to pick up the open man and contest the shot. The only Atlanta players to make a three were Garrison Mathews and Vit Krejci. The Pistons continued to extend the lead as they led 97-75 after the third quarter. Cade continued making Dyson Daniels look like a bad defender, Beasley and Fontecchio kept hitting threes, but Detroit’s defensive play intensified. Isaiah Stewart was a defensive nightmare for Atlanta. He was willing to do all the dirty work - he was snagging rebounds and swatting everything, including this monster block on Jalen Johnson: isaiah stewart with a caps-lock BLOCK on jalen johnson— dan favale (@danfavale.bsky.social) 2025-01-23T02:17:35.867Z The start of the fourth quarter wasn’t ideal as they missed their first six shot attempts, but Cade checked in and drove for a tough layup for Detroit’s first make with 8:32 left in the game. Atlanta was able to cut the deficit to 12 after an 18-6 run, but Cunningham found Duren, Ausar, and Ausar again for consecutive dunks to make the lead a little more comfortable. Jalen Duren with the dunk off a great hook pass by Cade Cunningham (with replays). Pistons and Hawks commentary. pic.twitter.com/XexkesDwFX— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 23, 2025 Side-note: how did each team’s play-by-play guy call this dunk a windmill? Things got gross as Detroit committed five quick turnovers on their last eight possessions, but they held onto the lead to beat the Hawks 114-104. Cade finished with 29 points on 12-for-19 from the field - he did have 11 assists, but he also had 10 turnovers. Beasley (19), Ausar (16), Duren (14), and Fontecchio (13) were the other Pistons players in double-digits. Beasley and Fontecchio combined to make eight threes while Ausar and Duren combined to shoot 13-for-16 from the floor. Atlanta shot 38% from the field and 16% from deep. Sometimes teams have an off-night, but Detroit’s defense certainly contributed to the bad shooting night from the Hawks. Trae, Hunter, Daniels, Johnson, and Bogdanovic all had more field goal attempts than points. Dyson led he way for Atlanta with 20 points on 21 shots, including going 0-for-5 from deep. Your Detroit Pistons are now the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference at 23-21. They’re above the Hawks, Magic, and Heat - all teams I think could stay below Detroit for the remainder of the season. This team is for real, folks, and JB Bickerstaff sure looks like the perfect man for the job of helping this team grow. I also want to give a little more love to Cade Cunningham. He’s frequently the best player on the court from both teams. Oh, big game in Madison Square Garden? No problem. Drop 30 on Jalen Green’s head? Easy. Travel to Atlanta in a snowstorm with the 6th seed on the line? Let’s hoop! OG Anunoby? Mikal Bridges? Amen Thompson? Dyson Daniels? Yeah, none of them can guard him. At this point, is there anyone who can guard this guy? Detroit now moves to 2-0 on their five-game road trip as they’ll travel to Florida to take on the Orlando Magic on Saturday night. That’ll be another huge matchup for the Pistons as they look to skip the play-in tournament completely and bring some postseason basketball to Detroit.