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Malik Beasley, Cade Cunningham spark Detroit Pistons season sweep of LA Lakers, 117-114


Malik Beasley, Cade Cunningham spark Detroit Pistons season sweep of LA Lakers, 117-114

LOS ANGELES -- The Detroit Pistons' Western road trip, for the second game in a row, has delivered a big upset.

The Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, 117-114, thanks to a balanced effort -- with six players scoring in double figures -- and timely stops. A pair of buckets from LeBron James in the final 90 seconds of the game capped a Lakers rally that whittled a 10-point Pistons lead to three, but head coach J.B. Bickerstaff won a coaches challenge with 28.9 seconds left that helped to clinch the win.

In the final minute, Detroit's Tobias Harris was whistled for a shooting foul on Anthony Davis. But the call was overturned after the review. Still, the Lakers had one final chance, after Cade Cunningham missed a game-icing 3 with just over 3 seconds left, but James' potential tying 3-pointer clanked off the rim.

DYNAMIC DUO: Malik Beasley making life easier for Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham

It was the second straight win for the Pistons (13-17), who defeated the Suns in Phoenix on Saturday.

Malik Beasley led the Pistons with 21 points and Cunningham had a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists. Jaden Ivey (18 points), Tim Hardaway Jr. (15 points), Simone Fontecchio (13 points) and Ron Holland (10 points) also reached double-figures. James led the Lakers with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

The Pistons fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter but finished it strong, outscoring the Lakers 18-6 the rest of the quarter to take a two-point lead. The run reached 25-8 in the second, giving the Pistons their biggest lead of the first half, 41-34, before the Lakers battled back.

The second and third quarters were tight, with the third alone featuring 11 lead changes and six ties. The Pistons owned the final period, however, using a 20-9 run to build a 10-point lead over the Lakers, 113-103, with just over five minutes remaining.

The Lakers shot 54.1%, but the Pistons' defense forced 18 turnoverss. Meanwhile, the Pistons only had 12, allowing them to build a 28-9 disparity in points off turnovers.

Monday was the Pistons' third-consecutive game forcing at least 18 turnovers -- a surprising trend for a team that has been among the NBA's worst at producing steals.

Entering the game, Pistons opponents averaged 14.4 turnovers per game, tied for 20th leaguewide. The Pistons rank last in steals per game, with 6.8. But on Monday, they were able to force turnovers in bunches and finished the night with 12 steals, one short of the season-high 13 they tallied against the Suns on Saturday.

Paul Reed was active defensively and led the team with three steals. Harris, Ivey and Beasley each had two steals apiece.

Fontecchio, in his third season, hasn't found his groove through the first third of the season. He entered Monday shooting 40.7% overall and 34.8% from 3 -- below his career average of 37.1% beyond the arc, not to mention the 42.6% he shot on 3s with the Pistons last season.

He banked in a 3 as the first-quarter buzzer expired to give the Pistons their first lead since opening the game 2-0, and opened the second with a pair of free throws and a layup. With 8:03 remaining in the fourth, he knocked down a long midrange jumper -- granted after a challenge overruled an initial offensive foul call -- to extend their lead to 10.

In 20 minutes, Fontecchio scored 13 points on 4-for-4 shooting.

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