The Detroit Pistons have overcome various absences this season to maintain their spot atop the Eastern Conference.
For the first time this season, they had to keep their foot on the gas while missing two players due to suspensions.
Without top big men Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, the Pistons had no trouble dispatching the Toronto Raptors on the road, 113-95, behind another excellent performance from guard Cade Cunningham and a showcase from third-string center Paul Reed.
Ahead of this weekend’s All-Star game, Cunningham racked up 28 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals, while Reed — making his seventh start of the season — excelled with 22 points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
The Pistons (40-13) held Toronto All-Stars Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram to 30 combined points while Detroit shot 53% from the field through the first three quarters and cruised to a third straight win despite missing key playmakers.
Reed was red-hot right out of the gate as he scored 11 of Detroit’s first 14 points, hitting from three before going down low to bank shots off the glass and finish at the rim.
A 9-0 run pushed the Pistons ahead 23-10 before Toronto’s first major run to get within six points, but Daniss Jenkins converted a three-point play off a running finish in the lane to halt the streak.
As Reed played all but the final five seconds of the first quarter, he capped a 16-point period where the team shot 58% from the field to stay up by 10 points.
After Toronto (32-23) came out with a small surge, Cunningham responded by hitting three straight three-pointers to push Detroit back out in front.
The Pistons’ offense slowed in the middle of the quarter, but they started dominating the paint late to go up by 14 as Cunningham, Reed and Duncan Robinson finished at the rim through traffic.
Even so, the Pistons had a good night form deep, hitting on 14-of-34 (41%) shots from beyond the arc to bounce back from going 20% against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
Cunningham would finish the first half with 22 points after an 18-point second quarter to go with six rebounds and six assists to that point. As Robinson added 11 points in the second quarter, the Pistons accumulated a 67-52 lead at the half.
The Pistons kept steady in the third quarter as seven different players got on the board in what had been a night primarily dominated by the starting group.
Caris LeVert hit on back-to-back threes, helping the Pistons on an 11-3 run to go up by a game-high 23 points. A late triple from Toronto’s Gradey Dick had the Raptors down by 20 heading into the final quarter.
The Pistons sat Cunningham in the fourth, allowing Jenkins and Tobias Harris — finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds — to pace the offense down the stretch. Jenkins scored five points in the final period and the Detroit defense stayed stingy to keep the Raptors from closing the gap.
With a mark of 40-13, the Pistons have their second-best record in franchise history at the All-Star break, trailing the 2005-06 squad’s 42-9 record.
BOX SCORE
Up next: The Pistons head into the All-Star break as the top team in the Eastern Conference. Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Detroit’s coaching staff will head to Inglewood, Calif., for the All-Star game, the rest of the team will get back on the court Feb. 19 against the New York Knicks.