DETROIT — Cade Cunningham had 22 points and 15 assists as the Detroit Pistons defeated the Chicago Bulls 127-119 on Sunday.
The Pistons overcame a triple-double from Nikola Vučević, who finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Cunningham, who was named to his first All-Star team earlier this week, didn’t have his best shooting night, going 10 for 23 from the floor and 2 for 6 on 3-pointers, but created easy baskets for his teammates all game.
Jalen Duren added 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Pistons, while sixth-man Malik Beasley scored 19. The Pistons finished with seven players in double figures.
Coby White led the Bulls with 22 points, while Josh Giddey added 20 points and 11 rebounds.
A 3-pointer by Vučević pulled the Bulls within 111-104 with 6:13 to play, but they couldn’t string together enough stops to make a serious run. Cunningham set up dunks for Ausar Thompson and Duren followed by Tim Hardaway Jr. and Beasley hitting 3-pointers.
Takeaways
Bulls: Zach LaVine missed his third straight game for personal reasons. He has been on paternity leave.
Pistons: Isaiah Stewart returned for the Pistons after serving a one-game suspension in Thursday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Key moment
The Pistons outscored the Bulls 34-19 in the second quarter, shooting 51.9% (14-27) from the floor while the Bulls were at 31.6% (6-19). Simone Fontecchio had nine points in the period while Cunningham added seven. Josh Giddey had six for the Bulls.
Key stat
The Pistons made 13 of their first 19 shots in the fourth quarter (68.4%) before missing twice in garbage time. The Bulls shot 46.9% from the floor in the second half, including 37% from the 3-point line, but only outscored the Pistons 65-63.
Up next
The Pistons are home again on Monday, hosting the Atlanta Hawks, while the Bulls return home to host the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
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