Will Riley led eight Washington players in double figures with 20 points as the undermanned Wizards surprised the host Detroit Pistons 126-117 on Thursday.
Riley added six rebounds and five assists for the Wizards, who had only 10 players available after trade deadline moves. Sharife Cooper supplied 18 points and five assists, while Tristan Vukcevic and Justin Champagnie had 14 points apiece.
Bub Carrington and Alex Sarr added 12 points apiece. Anthony Gill and Bilal Coulibaly each chipped in 11.
Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Duncan Robinson had 21 points, Ausar Thompson tossed in 13 and Ronald Holland added 11 with 10 rebounds.
Detroit’s All-Star center, Jalen Duren, missed the second half due to right knee soreness. Another starter, Tobias Harris, sat out due to left hip soreness.
Detroit came out flat while Washington built a 20-point lead. Midway through the second quarter, the Pistons were down 51-31.
A putback by Thompson kicked off a 21-2 run that pulled his team within a point. Cunningham and Holland had six points apiece during that span. Riley made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to give the Wizards a 56-52 lead at the break.
Robinson knocked down two 3-pointers in the first minute of the third quarter, sandwiching a Carrington 3-pointer. Still, the Wizards wouldn’t easily concede the lead. They soon went on a 15-1 run for an 80-64 lead. That was sparked by 3-pointers from Sarr and Carrington.
Vukcevic had a personal 6-0 run late in the quarter to give the Wizards a 90-71 lead. Detroit finished the quarter strong and cut it to 95-84 heading into the fourth.
A Riley putback with 9:49 remaining made it 101-90. The Pistons kept chipping away and when Robinson converted a four-point play, Washington’s lead was down to 112-107.
The Pistons got as close as four but the Wizards kept answering. Riley’s jumper with 2:43 left pushed Washington’s advantage to 119-110.
