The Detroit Pistons will try to win back-to-back games for only the second time this season when they visit the struggling Washington Wizards on Sunday.
The Pistons began their three-game road trip with a 127-120 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. However, they bounced back two nights later, earning a 99-95 win over the Toronto Raptors for their fifth win in the last eight games.
With Tim Hardaway Jr. (head injury) out, Malik Beasley started and led the Pistons with 20 points, hitting four of his team’s eight 3-pointers.
Cade Cunningham added 15 points and 10 assists for his sixth double-double of the season, and Jaden Ivey scored 14 points in his return after missing one game due to a toe injury.
Detroit had six players in double figures, but Cunningham was quick to praise Wendell Moore Jr. and Marcus Sasser for their contributions off the bench. Moore finished with eight points and six rebounds, while Sasser had six points and five rebounds.
“His approach, he’s been the same every day,” Cunningham said about Moore, who joined the Pistons in a four-team trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves on July 6. “Just waited on his opportunity. We’re all super happy for him. Plus-18 is crazy. That’s what won us the game, him and (Sasser). They brought energy for us.”
Moore said he’s seeing good progress with the Pistons as they improve.
“It actually reminds me a lot of Minnesota, because when I got there, we were just on the up-and-coming, too,” Moore said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “So we’re doing a great thing here. Hopefully I’m able to bring a little experience.
I haven’t played a lot, but I’ve been around a lot of winning just throughout my career in basketball. It’s been a smooth transition. All the guys, I’ve known them growing up playing with them. So it made it easy coming here. It’s a lot of fun playing with this group.”
Meanwhile, the Wizards are struggling, having lost seven straight games.
Kyle Kuzma scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Washington’s 129-117 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. However, Kuzma was frustrated with missed chances during the game.
“I had good rhythm today. Just missed a couple layups,” Kuzma said. He finished 11-for-28 from the field and 2-for-11 from three-point range. “Make a couple layups and you’re at 50 percent, then nobody talks about it. It doesn’t really matter, you know?”
Rookie Alexandre Sarr contributed 20 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three. Sarr, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, blocked out the crowd’s jeers in Atlanta, adding four steals and three blocks.
“It’s pretty funny to me,” Sarr said about the crowd’s reaction during his second game in Atlanta. “So I love playing here.”
The Pistons and Wizards split their four-game season series in 2023-24, with the visiting team winning each game.
