Dominant Pistons clip Hawks' wings

CUNNINGHAM AND CO RUN RIOT IN MOTOR CITY

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Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons thumped the Atlanta Hawks 142-115 on Friday to extend their lead on top of the NBA Eastern Conference.

Shrugging off disappointment at missing the ongoing NBA Cup's knockout rounds, dominant Detroit racked up their biggest points total and winning margin of the season to move to 20-5.

The rout came after a tight first quarter and despite heroics from Atlanta forward Jalen Johnson, who made Hawks franchise history with his third consecutive triple-double.

Detroit spread the points around, with star point guard Cunningham among eight Pistons players to hit double figures, but no player reaching 20.

More than half of the Pistons' tally came from the bench, led by Isaiah Stewart's 17.

After a first quarter in which the lead changed 13 times, Detroit surged emphatically ahead.

The Hawks, playing without injured star guard Trae Young since October, never regained the advantage.