Cade Cunningham drops 29 points as Pistons rout sputtering Kings
Cade Cunningham scored 19 of his game-high 29 points in the first half to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 139-116 home win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Cunningham, who shot 13 of 22 from the field, added 11 assists and five rebounds for the Pistons (33-11), who swept the season series with Sacramento.
Jalen Duren scored 18 points and Tobias Harris had 16 points to flank Cunningham for Detroit, which shot 54.9% from the field overall (50 of 91), 51.6% from 3-point range and held a 43-33 rebounding advantage. Detroit had 16 offensive rebounds.
Malik Monk came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points and Nique Clifford and Dennis Schroder each added 15 points for Sacramento (12-35), which has lost five straight games overall and nine straight on the road.
The Kings shot 52.4% from the field (44 of 84), went 11 of 25 from 3-point range (44%) and 17 of 28 from the free-throw line.
Detroit was in control from the second quarter on, building a 13-point lead at halftime and then going up by 23 at 130-107 with 6:35 remaining in the game.
The closest Sacramento would get from there was within 19 points with 5:01 left.
Leading 78-65 at halftime, the Pistons extended their lead to 89-72 with 8:52 to go in the third after a 3-pointer by Ausar Thompson.
Detroit built its lead to 99-78 with 5:25 left in the third and then took a 113-93 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Pistons were red-hot in the first half, shooting 52.8% from the field (28 of 53), including 8 of 16 from 3-point range. The 78 points were the highest first-half total of the season for Detroit, eclipsing their previous high of 75 set on Dec. 23, also against Sacramento.
Detroit was particularly hot in the second quarter, outscoring the Kings 43-30.