On December 30th, LeBron James celebrated his 41st birthday. He is currently the oldest active player in the league.
James spent his birthday taking on the Detroit Pistons and Detroit made sure James did not secure a win on his birthday.
The Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 128-106 in dominating fashion as Cade Cunningham led his team with 27 points and 11 assists. James finished with 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
Detroit went into the Staples Center and did what was needed to be done to come out with a victory. It would have been a great way to end James’ birthday with a win, but the Pistons were not going to let that happen.
Cade Cunningham and the Pistons With an Impressive Performance
The Pistons came out and had a point to prove. Cunningham led the way with his 16th double-double of the season and his fourth consecutive game with 20 plus points.
Detroit’s bench stepped up as well. Three players had 10 or more points and were led by Marcus Sasser who had a season-high 19 points and made four three-pointers. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff had nothing but positive things to say about the bench production and Sasser’s performance.
“They gave us such a big spark,” Bickerstaff said. “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what Marcus Sasser did tonight, after not playing but seemingly always finding his way in the moment … it’s not easy to not play a ton and be as effective as he was.”
The Pistons’ bench had a total of 67 points while the Lakers’ bench had 34.
Cunningham gave a special shout out to one of his teammates after the game. “He the man and he’s part of that bench collective that came in here and changed the game for us,” Cunningham said about Javonte Green. “He just make plays and he’s just all over the place, that’s what he do.”
Green finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in 31 minutes of work against the Lakers. Some other players who stood out were Isaiah Stewart (15 points) and Ron Holland (11 points and seven rebounds).
Pistons Snap Two-Game Losing Streak
Going into the Lakers game, the Pistons dropped their two previous games against the Utah Jazz and L.A. Clippers. The win over the Lakers snapped that losing streak as Detroit headed back home after their five-game road stretch.
The Pistons bounced back after a disappointing loss to the Clippers where Kawhi Leonard dropped a career-high 55 points. Detroit only scored 99 points in that game and it was the first time they did not score in the triple digits since December 1st.
In the loss against the Jazz, the Pistons allowed the Jazz to score 131 points. It was just the second time this season that Detroit allowed a team to score over 130 points. The Pistons went 3-2 during their west coast road trip and still have the top record in the Eastern Conference through 33 games.
This season, Detroit has shown why they’re one of the top teams in the league and currently the team to beat in the east.
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