It’s Fred VanVleet, with his 3-point baskets, who launches the Rockets against a very active Cade Cunningham – Jalen Duren duo. The first hurts with his penetrations, the second with his offensive rebounds. Then, when Houston botches its basketball, the Pistons take advantage to go 13-0 in a few seconds. Embarrassed by Detroit, the Texans struggled to find their way to the circle (29-40).
After conceding four points in a row to start the second quarter, Ime Udoka’s players finally reacted with aggression. They then go 16-0! The Pistons lose too many balls on poorly executed or intercepted passes and the Rockets, especially Amen Thompson, can run. When entering the locker room, the two teams are tied (57 all).
As at the start of the match, Cade Cunningham wears his own but this time, it’s on the outside, with shots from mid-distance and behind the arc. And, like the first period, the Rockets are still very messy and the gap rises to 15 points in favor of Detroit. The Pistons leader concludes his excellent third quarter with a mid-distance shot at the buzzer (80-90).
Without their star, the Michigan players suffer to get going in the last act, while Jalen Green scores five points in a few seconds. Marcus Sasser is fortunately there to open the counter for his team in the last quarter and everything is back to normal.
The Pistons even inflict an 11-2 to validate their victory. Because even with an unattractive end to the match, it holds up since the Rockets miss too many shots from distance to hope to come back. Victory for Detroit, 96-107.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Good and less good show level… The meeting can be divided into sequences of very uneven quality. At times, it was very messy, even painful, with a lot of lost balls (38 in total) and missed shots. Then, for others, it was much more pleasant, with races and a little skill.
-– Le show Cade Cunningham. It is perhaps he who best symbolizes these tonal changes in the game. With his third quarter at 19 points, he was not only impressive but also hurt the Rockets very, very badly and he is the one who changes things for the Pistons. He finished with 32 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. That’s the positive. The negative is his 10 lost balloons…
– Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun were missing a little in Houston. It’s always like that… It was enough to talk about the good performances of the Texan fullback in 2025 for him to make a less good copy. It’s even his weakest of the calendar year, with 19 points at 9/21 shooting, with 5 lost balls and a +/- of -22! The Turk was also less sharp, hampered by Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, compiling only 14 points and 8 rebounds.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
