By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 13 assists as the Detroit Pistons beat the New York Knicks 121-90 on Monday night.
It was the first meeting between the teams since May 1, when the Knicks eliminated the Pistons 116-113 in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series. Detroit’s win in Game 2 ended their NBA-record 15-game postseason losing streak.
Javonte Green scored 17 points and Jaden Ivey added 16 points for Detroit, which finished with a 52-34 edge in points in the paint and a 44-30 rebounding advantage.
Jalen Brunson had 25 points for the Knicks, who lost their fourth straight game. Miles McBride scored 17, but Mikal Bridges (10) was the only other New York player to reach double digits.
Cunningham had 14 points and seven assists as the Pistons built a 64-54 halftime lead. Brunson had 17 for the Knicks, who trailed despite shooting 53.8% from the floor (21 for 39), including 57.1% (8 for 14) on 3-pointers. Detroit had a 36-22 edge on points in the paint.
The Pistons started the second half with a 19-5 run lasting more than eight minutes. Cunningham scored 15 points and assisted on the other two baskets as Detroit took a 24-point lead. The Knicks missed 14 of their first 16 shots while Detroit scored another eight points in the paint.
Meanwhile, Bruce Brown scored 19 points and got the winning bucket in overtime off a goaltending call on Joel Embiid, and Jalen Pickett had 29 points to lead the short-handed Denver Nuggets to a 125-124 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Embiid was whistled for the decisive goaltend when he tried to block Brown’s running layup with 5.3 seconds left. Tyrese Maxey missed a winning floater for the Sixers at the horn.
Embiid scored 32 points — the fourth time in his last eight games he has scored 30 — and Maxey had 28. The Nuggets played without three-time MVP Nikola Jokic — out at least until the end of the month with a with a hyperextended left knee — Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and others a night after a loss at Brooklyn.
The entire regular starting lineup sat out, and the Nuggets had only nine available players. Peyton Watson added 24 points for Denver.
The Nuggets refused to use their lighter roster as an excuse to pack it in against the Sixers. Hunter Tyson converted a four-point play that gave Denver a 102-100 lead in the fourth and Pickett followed with a 2-footer that forced the 76ers into a timeout and served as the highlights of a 14-0 run.
Brown snapped a tie game with a 3-pointer and made 2 of 3 free throws for a 120-115 lead when he was fouled on a 3-pointer on the next possession. That miss in the middle doomed Denver in regulation.
VJ Edgecombe hit a 3 that made it 120-118 and Maxey tied the game on a driving layup with 49 seconds left that sent the game into OT tied 120-all. Edgecombe, the No. 3 pick of the draft and having a sensational rookie season, also gave the Sixers their last lead in OT on a dunk just before Brown’s goaltended winner.
The 76ers returned from a 3-2 road trip — that included all three wins on the backend.
