DETROIT — After an ugly overtime defeat, the Detroit Pistons needed a chance to bounce back and they got that Saturday night in their final home game of 2025.
Thanks to a strong defensive performance where the Pistons (22-6) held the Charlotte Hornets to a season-worst 31.5% shooting from the field, Detroit got back in the win column with a 112-86 victory at Little Caesars Arena.
Cade Cunningham scored a team-high 22 points with 10 assists and rebounds for his third triple double of season. The rest of the starting five each scored double-digit points, the first time the Detroit starters have done so since Dec. 5 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Center Jalen Duren added 19 points and 11 boards, with veteran forward Tobias Harris rebounding from a scoreless game on Thursday to post 16 and Ausar Thompson filling up the stat sheet for 14 points, four blocks, four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The Hornets (9-19) got off to a strong start with LaMelo Ball draining a pair of threes, but the Pistons quickly found their rhythm with Thompson working in the paint.
That would be the theme of the first half as the Pistons relied on their physicality inside the paint to guide them over a Charlotte team kept out on the perimeter.
The Pistons began clogging up the paint, holding a Hornets team that averages nearly 50 points in the paint per game to just four in the first quarter and 10 in the opening half.
For the night, Detroit outscored Charlotte 66-28 in the paint.
At one point, the Pistons held the Hornets without a two-point make from the 8:16 mark in the first quarter all the way to the 8:32 mark in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Cunningham got himself going for a good night, hitting a turnaround jump shot and driving to the rim to finish off a turnover in quick succession. He led all scorers with 15 points at halftime.
The one trade off with how staunchly the Pistons defended the paint was leaving too many openings for a solid three-point shooting team led by rookie Kon Knueppel.
The first-round pick out of Duke led the charge for the Hornets to shoot 7-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first. Knueppel led Charlotte with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Detroit couldn’t buy a three-pointer early, needing a late corner make from Duncan Robinson at the end of the first quarter to reach a 1-of-12 start from deep and a six-point lead.
The Hornets started to find a bit more success in the paint in the second quarter and managed a modest lead, but Cunningham, Harris and Isaiah Stewart led the charge late in the half to go on a 10-0 run and build a 55-45 advantage into halftime.
Despite Stewart’s four turnovers in the second quarter, he logged six points, eight rebounds — including three on offense — and two blocks. The second rejection denied Ball from scoring just ahead of the buzzer.
The three-point struggles of the first half quickly evaporated as Robinson took the court for the third quarter and drained his first three shots from deep.
Robinson was fouled while taking the third shot and earned an additional free throw, while sending Ball to the bench with an early fifth foul. Cunningham added his own triple in the mix and the Pistons shot out to an 18-point lead.
The Hornets found their own 16-3 run to close out the third quarter, taking advantage of a flagrant foul on Stewart and closing the gap back down to seven going into the final quarter.
Detroit had the response in the fourth with an all-around effort that saw seven different Pistons make at least one shot. Ron Holland led the team with nine points, five rebounds and a steal in the period.
The Pistons shot out to a 25-point lead with about five minutes to go and began resting starters, cruising to a convincing victory.
[**BOX SCORE**](https://go.skimresources.com?id=126006X1587345&xs=1&xcust=jacob-richman%7C&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nba.com%2Fgame%2Fcha-vs-det-0022500390%2Fbox-score%3Fperiod%3DQ2&product_category=Sporting+Goods%3EAthletics%3EBasketball)
**Up next:** The Pistons begin their five-game road trip against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.