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    • Detroit Pistons beat LeBron James, Lakers at home, 115-103
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    Detroit Pistons beat LeBron James, Lakers at home, 115-103

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    The Detroit Pistons dominated the first half. They survived in the second half.

    A Jaden Ivey three-pointer with less than two minutes to play clinched the Pistons’ second win in as many nights against one of the West’s top contenders. They defeated the Los Angeles Lakers at home 115-103, thanks to clutch shots from Ivey and Cade Cunningham down the stretch.

    The Pistons led by 14 at halftime and by 20 early in the third quarter before a Lakers run cut the lead to six at the end of the period. Ivey (26 points) and Cunningham (17 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds) delivered the clutch shots late to prevent a collapse. With 1:36 left, Ivey knocked down a 3 to extend the Pistons’ lead to 109-100. A floater on their next possession gave them extra insurance.

    Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 19 points, and Tobias Harris added 15. Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 37 points and nine rebounds, and LeBron James finished with 20 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

    FINAL GAME: Detroit Pistons get past Nets 106-92 with even effort and set up defense

    Great first half, then survival mode vs. Lakers stars

    The Pistons got off to an uneven start, turning the ball over on back-to-back possessions to open the game. It was a false omen; the Pistons controlled the rest of the first half.

    Harris and Hardaway got the Pistons going early with a pair of threes, the second giving them a 6-5 lead. They never fell behind again. The veteran duo scored 16 of their first 19 points and finished the first quarter with 21 of their 33.

    The Pistons closed the first quarter on a 12-2 run, taking an 11-point, 33-22 lead and leading by double digits at halftime. Ivey scored 10 of his 26 points in the second and showed his improved ball-handling. He blew past Reaves with an in-and-out dribble that led to a layup and slid past Rui Hachimura for another, scoring eight of their first 10 points.

    They led by as many as 20, with Hardaway knocking down a mid-range jumper with 2:56 left in the half to extend the lead to 62-42. They shot 54% overall and stopped the Lakers offense outside of Davis and James.

    However, a 19-6 Lakers run eliminated most of their lead entering the fourth. Some of it was due to cold shooting, as the Pistons shot just 2-for-10 from 3 (and 5-22 overall) in the third quarter to leave the door open. D’Angelo Russell and Reaves each knocked down a pair of threes in that period, giving the Lakers a much-needed lift.

    Cunningham learns how to be a ‘maestro’

    The fourth-year guard led the Pistons with 19 points in Sunday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets, but he got off to a slow start. The Nets kept him and blitzed him, and he finished the first quarter with one shot attempt.

    He became more comfortable as the game went on, scoring 10 points in the final period after the Nets adjusted their coverage. The coaching staff wants Cunningham to lean on his teammates when the defense assigns extra defenders to him.

    Cunningham had a similar start on Monday, finishing the first half with four points and a team-high five assists as his teammates lit up the scoreboard.

    “It’s one of those things we’ve talked about,” Bickerstaff said before the game. “Teams are going to put more pressure on him and trap him even more. What he did early on was he trusted his teammates and he gave his teammates the basketball.

    “That’s one of the things for him. He has to be the master of the game and understand what the opponent is doing, how to make the opponent pay and then the game will loosen up and change as we go along.”

    Once again, Cunningham got off to a late start. Back-to-back buckets midway through the third gave the Pistons another 18-point lead before the Lakers cut it to six, 83-77 to end the quarter.

    Cunningham opened the fourth with a lob to Jalen Duren for a dunk, then got to the rim for a pair of layups to prevent the Lakers’ run.

    Late in the fourth, after James found Davis for an alley-oop to cut it to five, Cunningham answered with a fallaway jumper before splitting a trip at the line to give them an eight-point cushion, 106-98, with 3:18 remaining. With 41 seconds left and the win in hand, Cunningham delivered one final layup for good measure.

    (MUST WATCH: We’re talking Pistons live on YouTube starting at 8 p.m. Sunday. Tune in and join the chat. Make ‘The Pistons Pulse’ your favorite Detroit Pistons podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live/on demand on YouTube. )

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