The absence of Cade Cunningham hasn’t affected the Detroit Pistons’ bottom line.
Detroit’s All-Star guard has missed three games after being diagnosed with a collapsed lung. The Pistons have continued to win without their team leader. They will carry a four-game winning streak into their home matchup with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
The Eastern Conference’s top team halted the Los Angeles Lakers’ nine-game winning streak on Monday with a 113-110 home victory.
Cunningham’s replacement in the lineup, Daniss Jenkins, scored a career-high 30 points. He hit a key baseline jumper and two free throws in the last 25 seconds.
“For me, I always say I’m forever humble, thankful and grateful. But you know what you can do, how I can impact the game,” Jenkins said. “Everybody else is surprised. For myself, and I speak humbly and respectfully, but I just know the work that I put in. I just know when my number is called, I know what I’m about and how I’m going to help the team. So, that’s all I try to go out and do. It really doesn’t surprise me.”
Jenkins began the season on a two-way contract. He was promoted on a two-year standard contract last month.
“Again, no longer surprised,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “When he has the opportunity, he has delivered for us. Whether it’s throughout the game or in clutch moments, he finds a way to impact winning. I thought, again, he made huge plays down the stretch, made his free throws. So, he deserves a lot of credit.”
Detroit (52-19) is getting closer to securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Pistons have a five-game cushion over their closest pursuer with 11 games remaining.
The Pistons can sweep the four-game season series with the Hawks with a victory on Wednesday. All those wins came during November and December.
Atlanta (40-32) is now the hottest team in the league, winning 13 of its last 14 contests. The Hawks pummeled the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies 146-107 on Monday. The surge has positioned the Hawks to potentially avoid the play-in tournament.
The Hawks had eight players score in double figures, including four reserves, during their latest victory. They had 37 assists on 49 made field goals.
“I thought CJ (McCollum) set the tone early,” coach Quin Snyder said. “He was just in the lane and had his eyes out, finding people, and then Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) had a stretch at the beginning of the third quarter, where just those guys playing that way, it raises everybody’s level. It sets a tone.”
Alexander-Walker scored one of his baskets on a first-quarter dunk, a rarity for him.
“Paint touches are important to the team. Just transition play,” Alexander-Walker said. “From when I got the ball, I could see the defender was timing me. So I knew I had to go aggressively. If I tried to lay it up, he probably would have, I think, like, the more aggressive guy wins in that situation.”
The game on Wednesday begins a stretch of three games in four nights for Atlanta. The Hawks will visit Boston on Friday and host Sacramento on Saturday.
