Miami (AFP) – The Detroit Pistons saw their 13-game NBA win streak snapped by the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, a missed Cade Cunningham free throw in the final seconds proving pivotal in a 117-114 loss. Jaylen Brown scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Derrick White added a season-high 27 points as Boston improved to 10-8. Cunningham’s game-high 42 points were not enough for Detroit, which fell to 15-3 in a setback for their NBA Cup hopes as well.
The Pistons missed out on a club-record 14th consecutive victory, instead sharing the team-high 13-game win streak mark with the 1989-90 and 2003-04 squads that won NBA titles. Detroit’s loss left Orlando alone atop East Group B in the NBA Cup at 3-0, with a showdown for the title and a playoff spot against the Magic coming Friday.
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Anfernee Simons sank two free throws to give Boston a 115-112 lead with 6.3 seconds remaining. Cunningham, the NBA’s top fourth-quarter scorer, was fouled just over mid-court and hurled the ball at the basket, referees giving him three free throws and a chance to level the game. Cunningham made the first two but missed the third as the Boston crowd roared. Boston’s Payton Pritchard sank two final free throws and a bad pass by Jalen Durden denied Detroit a last shot at forcing overtime.
Wednesday’s games were in the NBA Cup mid-season tournament, which completes group stage play Friday. Toronto has clinched the East Group A crown and the Los Angeles Lakers have taken the West Group B title. Three group winners and a wildcard team from each conference will advance to the knockout stage, which starts on December 9.
In later games Wednesday, the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder (17-1) will try to stretch their win streak to 10 games in a home contest against Minnesota. The Thunder could also move to 3-0 in West Group A and be able to complete a group sweep with a home victory Friday over Phoenix. Toronto (13-5) will try to boost its win streak to nine games with a home victory over Indiana. The Miami Heat (12-6) will seek a sixth win in a row against visiting Milwaukee (8-10), which will try to avoid a sixth consecutive defeat. The Heat-Bucks winner would clinch the East Group C title if New York loses at Charlotte.
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