Cade Cunningham Scores 52 With Zero Turnovers as Detroit Outlasts Washington 144-140 in Double OT

Photo: NBA.com. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

Cade Cunningham opened the second overtime Thursday with a 24-foot three for a 135-132 lead, then hit a 12-foot fadeaway for a 142-138 cushion with 25.3 seconds left, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Washington Wizards 144-140 at Capital One Arena. He finished with 52 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers, the first 50-point, 10-assist game without a turnover since the NBA began tracking turnovers in 1977-78, per OptaSTATS via the Associated Press.

The 52 is a career high, six more than the 46 he scored against Washington just over a year ago, per the AP. It ties George Yardley's 52 in 1958 for the fourth-highest total in Pistons history, behind Jerry Stackhouse's 57, Kelly Tripucka's 56 and Dave Bing's 54, per ESPN Research.

Every possession, no giveaways

Cunningham carried a huge load and lost none of it. He took 25 shots, made 16, went 17 of 18 at the line and assisted on 11 baskets worth 25 points. Add his own 52 and he accounted for 77 of Detroit's 144, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. His true shooting percentage was 79.0, by our arithmetic from the NBA's official box score.

Detroit turned it over 12 times as a team. None were his. Washington turned it over 18 times, and Detroit scored 20 points off those turnovers to Washington's 16. The game had 20 lead changes and 13 ties, per the official scorer's report.

The run of clean games is new. Cunningham committed 35 turnovers in his first nine games this season, 3.9 a night, including seven against Miami and five against Boston, per his ESPN game log. Then came Monday's 122-111 win over Washington, with 17 points, seven assists and no turnovers in 27 minutes, and Thursday. That makes 69 points, 18 assists and zero turnovers in 75 minutes against the Wizards in four days.

Thirty after the third

Cunningham had 22 points through three quarters, per ESPN. He scored 18 in the fourth, seven in the first overtime and five in the second. Those 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime are the most by a Piston in the play-by-play era, which dates to 1997-98, per ESPN Research. He also assisted on baskets by Ronald Holland II, Paul Reed and Duncan Robinson in that stretch, so he had a hand in 36 of Detroit's 50 points after the third quarter.

The end of regulation ran through him on both ends. His two free throws with 26.4 seconds left gave Detroit a 119-118 lead. He blocked Trae Young's 22-foot pull-up with four seconds left, Washington's possession ended in a shot-clock violation, and he made two more free throws with 1.8 seconds left for 121-118. Young answered with a 29-foot three with 1.1 seconds left to force overtime.

Washington scored the first seven points of overtime for a 128-121 lead. Cunningham hit a 14-foot pull-up and two free throws, and after Ausar Thompson's tip and an Anthony Davis alley-oop dunk, his 26-foot running pull-up tied it at 130 with 33.1 seconds left. He found Robinson for a 23-foot jumper and a 132-130 lead with 9.6 seconds left before AJ Dybantsa's pull-up tied it again. Davis fouled out early in the second overtime, right after Cunningham's opening three, per the AP.

Three 30-point Wizards, one more loss

Washington got 30-point nights from three players for the first time since Nov. 18, 1969, when the franchise was the Baltimore Bullets and Mike Davis, Earl Monroe and Gus Johnson did it against the San Diego Rockets, per ESPN. Young scored 37 on 8-of-23 shooting, went 17 of 17 at the line and had 14 assists. Davis had 30 points and 15 rebounds. Alex Sarr made all 10 of his shots in regulation, per the AP, and finished with 30 on 12 of 14.

The Wizards won the paint 62-52 and the glass 50-47. They lost the fast-break battle 26-12, per the official report, and the free-throw line 33-26. Detroit's bench outscored Washington's 31-24, by our count from the official box. Bilal Coulibaly was minus-25 in 29 minutes and Tre Johnson was minus-20 on 5-of-14 shooting.

Dybantsa, the No. 1 pick, played 44 minutes and hit the shot that forced a second overtime. He also went 2 of 10 for five points with four turnovers, three days after scoring 21 in Detroit. Washington is 4-9 and has lost six straight.

Detroit without Duren

The Pistons won without Jalen Duren, inactive with a right hamstring strain, and Isaiah Joe, out with a right hip contusion, per the official report. Reed came off the bench and posted the best plus-minus on the floor, plus-25 in 37:44 with 13 points and 11 rebounds, five of them offensive. John Collins started at center and was minus-18 in 25 minutes. Thompson posted 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his first career triple-double, per the AP.

Without Duren, Reed and Thompson supply the second chances and the defense, and Cunningham runs the late possessions. The Pistons are 8-3 and 5-1 on the road. The bill for Thursday is 47:59 of Cunningham's minutes before Saturday's game at Miami, and the test is whether the zero holds in Miami, where he committed seven turnovers on Oct. 23, per his ESPN game log. Washington had six steals Thursday and none of them came off him.

The Wizards host Houston on Sunday.

Sources

• NBA official scorer's report, Pistons at Wizards, Nov. 12, 2026
• ESPN box score, Pistons at Wizards, Nov. 12
• ESPN play-by-play, Pistons at Wizards, Nov. 12
• AP recap via ESPN: Cade Cunningham's 52 points help the Pistons outlast the Wizards 144-140 in double overtime
• ESPN: Cade Cunningham's historic night puts Pistons past Wizards in 2OT thriller
• ESPN box score, Wizards at Pistons, Nov. 9
• ESPN game log, Cade Cunningham, 2026-27
• Basketball-Reference box score, Pistons at Wizards, Nov. 12, 2026