Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Cade Cunningham’s 23-point triple-double propelled the Detroit Pistons to a bounce-back NBA victory on Saturday, 123-114 over the Toronto Raptors. Cunningham added 10 rebounds and 17 assists for the Pistons, who returned to the win column — and improved to 20-19 — two days after their five-game winning streak was halted by the Golden State Warriors. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 27 points for Detroit, and the Pistons made 19 of their 33 three-point attempts to come out with a victory in a back-and-forth battle that featured 16 lead changes.
“We just needed this win bad,” Cunningham said. “We got to .500 and we didn’t want to go back under. We wanted to keep rolling and get another streak going.” Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points to lead seven players in double figures for the Raptors, who gave league-leading Cleveland a scare before falling to the Cavaliers on Thursday but have now lost five straight and 16 of their last 17. Quickley’s step-back basket tied it at 109-109 with 5:04 to play. Detroit regained the lead with a basket from Tobias Harris. Cunningham followed with a fadeaway jumper, and Jalen Duren threw down a dunk, and the Pistons pulled away.
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The Phoenix Suns, fueled by 34 points from Devin Booker, led wire-to-wire in a 114-106 home victory over the Utah Jazz. Kevin Durant added 25 points for Phoenix, who led by as many as 16 on the way to their second straight victory. Booker came out hot, connecting on seven of eight shots, including four of five from three-point range. He put up 22 points in the first half and finished with six of the Suns’ 13 three-pointers. Lauri Markkanen scored 24 points to lead the Jazz, who pulled within three points early in the fourth quarter but were powerless when the Suns pulled away.
Three of Saturday’s scheduled games, two in Los Angeles and one in Atlanta, were postponed. The NBA had decided Friday to postpone the Lakers’ home game against San Antonio and the Clippers’ home game against Charlotte due to the deadly wildfires raging across Los Angeles. Lakers coach JJ Redick, whose house was among those destroyed in the Palisades Fire, said Friday he hoped the team could return to action soon and “give people hope.” But the NBA said it would reschedule the games to avoid diverting resources from the fire response efforts. On Saturday morning, the league postponed the Hawks’ game against the Houston Rockets in Atlanta, where a winter storm brought snow and ice that made roads treacherous.
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