Cade Cunningham is fully back to himself after a brief scoring slump, but he was outdone by another of the NBA’s stars on Wednesday night.
The Pistons fell to the Clippers, 123-115, in Los Angeles to snap a five-game road winning streak that stretched back into January.
The Pistons had won 10 of their last 11 entering the contest as one of the NBA’s hottest teams. They remained in sixth place in the NBA Eastern Conference after the loss.
James Harden recorded 50 points and got to the free throw line 20 times -- more than the entire Pistons team combined -- to make the difference in a close contest.
Harden’s performance, his best of the season, topped Cunningham, who recorded 37 points and 10 assists on 15-of-25 shooting.
Detroit gave up a 12-point run midway through the first quarter to fall behind but battled back to tie the game at halftime. It remained within six points and briefly took the lead on an Isaiah Stewart dunk with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Pistons faded from there, as they turned the ball over on three of their next five possessions while giving up a 10-point Clippers run that put the game away.
Dennis Shroder added 21 points off the bench for the Pistons with seven assists and five 3-pointers in his best game since being acquired at the trade deadline last month.
Cunningham had recorded 11 and 15 points in back-to-back games to close out a Pistons homestand last week, shooting 33 percent in the two games. He recorded 29 in the team’s Monday win at Utah.
The Pistons were without starting forward Tobias Harris for the second straight game due to personal reasons.
Detroit’s four-game road trip continues with a Saturday night game at Golden State.
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