Detroit Pistons depth charges rout of LA Lakers to finish road trip

LOS ANGELES — The Detroit Pistons dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half, using a 26-8 run to finish their West Coast road swing with a commanding 128-106 win at Crypto.com Arena.

Marcus Sasser played a season-high 24 minutes and delivered 19 points off of the bench on Tuesday, Dec. 30, and Cade Cunningham led the way with 27 points and 11 assists. The Pistons went on a 35-15 run after the Lakers tied the game at 79 midway through the third quarter, then rode a big night from the bench, which contributed 67 points.

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Detroit's reserves stepped up as several key players battled foul trouble — Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland all had four fouls, and Cunningham had three. Stewart (15 points), Jalen Duren (14 points and eight rebounds) and Ron Holland (11 points) also scored in double figures. Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 30 points and 11 assists, and LeBron James added 17 points on his 41st birthday.

INJURY UPDATE: Tobias Harris exits vs Lakers

They were without Caris LeVert, who missed the game with left knee soreness. Tobias Harris exited in the first quarter with a left hip sprain and did not return.

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Detroit Pistons playoff position

The win extended Detroit’s lead in the Eastern Conference to 1½ games over the New York Knicks (23-9), who visit Detroit in a rematch of April’s hard-fought playoff series on Monday. The Pistons (25-8) lead the Cavaliers in the Central Division by 7½ games; they’ll face off in Cleveland on Sunday. Before then, though, the Pistons will ring in 2026 at home with a visit from the Miami Heat (18-15) on Thursday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra) in their first home game since Dec. 20.

Marcus Sasser capitalizes on opportunity

Minutes have been scant for Sasser since the third-year guard made his season debut Dec. 6 after an early season right hip impingement. He had only played 19 minutes through four games prior to Tuesday, mostly in garbage time.

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With LeVert out against the Lakers, Sasser’s number was called and he delivered. He checked in with 2:55 left in the opening quarter and made an immediate impact, coming up with a steal that led to an open dunk for Jaden Ivey and knocking down a 3-pointer with 12.7 seconds remaining in the first.

Sasser steadily contributed throughout all four quarters. A layup midway through the second extended their lead to 10, and he knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:19 until halftime to push it back to 10. A pair of free throws late in the third quarter came during a pivotal 15-6 run that put the Pistons back in control for good after the Lakers tied the game at 79.

He finished his big night with two big 3-pointers in the final period — the first pushing the Pistons’ lead to double digits with 9:01 on the clock, the last following a steal from Duren that pushed the lead to 15.

Bench steps up in second half

After a 3-point play by Doncic tied the game, the Pistons’ second unit took over. Holland sparked a 15-6 run with a pair of tough finishes at the rim, and then followed a Doncic stepback 3-pointer with a 3-pointer of his own on the other end. Ivey, Sasser and Javonte Green were all on the floor and also contributed to the run, which pushed their lead to nine at the end of the quarter.

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A deep 3-pointer from Ivey opened the fourth quarter as the Pistons ran away with the game. The bench was responsible for 18 of the Pistons’ 26 points in the third quarter and 40 of their 58 points in the second half, taking control of the game.

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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X @omarisankofa.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons depth charges rout of LA Lakers to finish road trip