Jaden Ivey scored a season-high 28 points and Malik Beasley matched his season-best with 26 points, lifting the visiting Detroit Pistons to a 124-104 victory over the reeling Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Ivey sank four 3-pointers and Beasley drained six from beyond the arc to send Detroit to its sixth win in the last nine games. The Pistons also won consecutive games for just the second time this season.
Cade Cunningham collected 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season for Detroit. He also had five steals. Tobias Harris recorded 12 points and nine rebounds for the Pistons, who seized control of the contest by outscoring Washington 37-26 in the third quarter.
The visitors played their second straight game without forward Tim Hardaway Jr. (head). Regardless, they shot 47.4 percent from the floor and 44.7 percent from 3-point range en route to handing the Wizards their eighth straight loss.
Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma each scored 22 points and Bilal Coulibaly added 15 for Washington, which has not tasted victory since a home-and-home sweep over the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 28-30.
Malcolm Brogdon went 0-for-4 from the floor and finished with one point in his Wizards debut after undergoing surgery on his right thumb in October. He was acquired by Washington from the Portland Trail Blazers on July 6.
The Pistons started fast out of the blocks, with Beasley, Jalen Duren and Ivey scoring baskets during a 9-0 run to give their team an early 11-3 lead. Ivey sank a 3-pointer and a floating jumper in the final minute of the first quarter to give Detroit a 28-18 advantage entering the second.
The Pistons pushed their lead to 65-53 at halftime and extended it to 83-61 midway into the third quarter after Ivey followed his 3-pointer with a three-point play. Detroit kept its foot on the gas, with Ivey converting another and-one to push his team’s advantage to 102-79 by the end of the third quarter.
Washington scored 11 of the first 13 points to begin the fourth quarter before Detroit responded with a 15-4 run to put the game out of reach. Beasley and Simone Fontecchio each drained a 3-pointer for the Pistons during that sequence.
