NBA: Detroit Breaks Slump After Manhandling New Orleans

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Detroit Pistons finally ended their skid after overpowering the New Orleans Pelicans, 127-81, during their inter-conference showdown in the ongoing NBA regular season on March 18, 2025.

After dropping their past two games against the Washington Wizards and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pistons vented their ire on New Orleans and handed them a one-sided beat down.

Cade Cunningham made up for his performance against Oklahoma and did it all in the win, stuffing the stat sheets with 24 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and a steal.

The NBA All-Star was ejected against the Thunder and made sure to keep his cool down against the Pelicans. He immediately scored eight points in the opening quarter and boosted the shooting of his squad as he located the wide-open shooters in quarters 2 and 3 that piled up his assists.

Detroit was in the zone as early as the first 12 minutes after blowing the game wide open with a 22-point lead, 35-13, courtesy of their hot shooting from the three-point line.

Aside from their offense that was just pouring, Detroit also controlled the battle of the boards that allowed them to kick off their fast break points swiftly.

Detroit ran New Orleans down midway through the second with their on-the-break deuces that swelled their lead to a commanding 31-point cushion heading into the half.

From that point, New Orleans lost steam and couldn’t keep up with the Pistons’ high-octane attack and waved the white flag at the start of the fourth to preserve their starters.

Backstopping Cunningham was Italian sharpshooter Simone Fontecchio who tallied 23 markers built from a perfect 5/5 shooting from the three-point line. He only missed a single attempt from the field and capped off the win with an efficient 9/10 shot-making.

Jalen Duren, the franchise’s young starting center, nearly clinched a triple-double in just 21 minutes of playing time, chipping in nine points, seven boards, six dimes, and two blocks.

The Pistons will look to bag their next scheduled game on March 20, 2025, against the Miami Heat, if they want to barge into the top 5 of the Eastern Conference.

Detroit is currently in sixth place with a win-loss record of 38-31 and can secure a higher seed in the playoffs if they finish above .500 in their remaining 13 games.