Cade Cunningham scored 24 points and the visiting Detroit Pistons never trailed, routing the New Orleans Pelicans 127-81 on Monday night.
Cunningham, who tied his season low with 11 points after being ejected late in the third quarter of a 113-107 loss to visiting Oklahoma City on Saturday, had nine as the Pistons (38-31) opened a 22-point lead after one quarter and remained in command throughout.
Detroit’s Simone Fontecchio scored a season-high 23 points while Dennis Schroder had 12. Malik Beasley added 11 points and Ronald Holland II contributed 10.
Zion Williamson scored 30 points, including 22 in the second half, and Yves Missi had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pelicans (18-51). New Orleans lost second-leading scorer Trey Murphy III to a season-ending right shoulder injury early in the first quarter and finished with their lowest point total of the season while tying the franchise record for largest margin of defeat.
The Pelicans announced that an MRI exam showed Murphy sustained a labrum tear and partial rotator cuff tear.
New Orleans made just 5 of 32 3-point attempts (15.6 percent), including 1 of 16 in the first half. CJ McCollum, the team’s third-leading scorer, missed all seven of his shots from beyond the arc and finished 1-for-15 from the floor.
Williamson scored the Pelicans’ first six points as they began the third quarter with a 19-7 spurt to climb within 19 points. Cunningham scored seven points as the Pistons rebuilt the lead to 88-63 at the end of the third quarter.
In the first quarter, Jalen Duren, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cunningham each scored five points as the Pistons raced to a 19-9 lead. After Williamson made 1 of 2 free throws, Detroit scored eight straight points to open a 17-point lead.
New Orleans scored just one field goal in the final seven minutes and the Pistons expanded the lead to 35-13 at the end of the first quarter.
The onslaught continued as Detroit pushed the lead to 27 points less than two minutes into the second quarter. The Pelicans crept within 23 twice before Cunningham’s layup completed an 11-2 run, and the Pistons subsequently expanded the lead to 63-32 entering halftime.
–Field Level Media
