Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 10 assists as the host Detroit Pistons held off the Denver Nuggets 124-121 on Tuesday night.

Duncan Robinson scored 20 points and Jalen Duren supplied 19 points and 13 rebounds in a game the Pistons never trailed. Detroit was coming off a 53-point victory over Brooklyn on Sunday, the largest margin in franchise history.

Tobias Harris contributed 11 points and six rebounds, including a key 3-pointer late. Isaiah Stewart chipped in 11 points with six rebounds, while Ausar Thompson had 10 points and six rebounds.

Jamal Murray led Denver with 32 points and eight assists. Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Peyton Watson had 17 points and Julian Strawther added 15.

Jonas Valanciunas had 11 points with 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, but the Pistons clinched the two-game season series. They won in Denver 109-107 a week earlier.

During a chippy first half, the Pistons pulled away to a 69-50 halftime lead. There were five technicals and a flagrant foul assessed during the first two quarters.

Cunningham led the way with 17 points and seven assists and backcourt partner Robinson tossed in 14 points. Murray led the Nuggets with 14 points and five assists.

The Pistons finished the half on a 10-0 run. Cunningham assisted on a Thompson basket, then drilled a 3-pointer. A steal and fast break dunk by Thompson, followed by another Cunningham 3-pointer, closed out the half.

The lead increased to 20 when Thompson made a layup two minutes into the third quarter. Late in the quarter, Denver had a 7-0 spurt — capped by a Murray layup — to pull within 11. Detroit’s lead was 93-80 heading into the fourth.

Jokic hit a 3-pointer to cut the Pistons’ lead to 98-89. After the Nuggets pulled within eight, Robinson hit a 3-pointer with 4:10 left.

The Nuggets refused to fold, as a 9-0 surge capped by a Murray 3-pointer cut Detroit’s advantage to 112-110. Harris answered with a 3-pointer to give the Pistons some breathing room. The Nuggets never got closer than three points the rest of the way.

–Field Level Media

Jamie Drysdale scored a power-play goal with 5:23 remaining as the Philadelphia Flyers topped the visiting Washington Capitals 4-2 on Tuesday.

Dan Vladar (26 saves) authored a terrific performance to help Philadelphia snap a four-game losing streak. Owen Tippett, Carl Grundstrom and Rasmus Ristolainen also scored for the Flyers, while Travis Konecny picked up two assists.

Anthony Beauvillier notched a goal and an assist for Washington, which came in on a three-game winning streak. Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, while Clay Stevenson turned aside 18 shots.

With the game tied at 2-2 with under six minutes left, Trevor Zegras won a puck battle in the corner and sent a pass back to Drysdale near the blue line. Stevenson got a piece of Drysdale’s blast, but the puck still found the back of the net.

Vladar made a key save on Alex Ovechkin with about 1:30 remaining to preserve the lead. Washington pressured a bit thereafter before Ristolainen clinched it with a long-distance empty-netter with 16.8 seconds to go.

The Flyers opened the scoring about six minutes into the game, following a nice passing sequence. Matvei Michkov made a cross-ice pass to the left point to Travis Sanheim, who promptly sent a diagonal feed to Tippett. The Philadelphia winger deked to his backhand and slipped one past Stevenson.

Both teams scored in the first half of the second period. Grundstrom made it 2-0 when his centering pass caromed off two Capitals players and into the net.

However, Washington responded with a short-handed goal less than four minutes later. Protas, playing in his 300th NHL game, rammed home his 19th of the season on a 2-on-1 feed from Beauvillier.

Beauvillier tied it early in the third period when he deposited a rebound past Vladar.

With just under seven minutes left, Washington nearly went ahead when Ovechkin’s shot trickled off the glove of Vladar and just past the right post.

–Field Level Media

LeBron James collected 25 points and seven assists as the Los Angeles Lakers seized control early in the finale of an eight-game road trip and cruised to a 125-109 victory over the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday night in New York.

James made 10 of 16 shots, including a pair of thunderous dunks in the first half. He also added three rebounds and had three of the Lakers’ 14 steals.

During his final minutes on the floor, some fans were chanting “We Want Bronny” in hopes of seeing his son, Bronny James, enter the game. The younger James played the final 4:36 and earned loud cheers from the mostly pro-Lakers crowd for a pair of baskets.

Luka Doncic added 24 points on 8 of 18 shooting and sat for the fourth quarter after playing 29 minutes. Doncic also handed out five assists and grabbed six rebounds.

Jake LaRavia contributed 18 points and Austin Reaves chipped in 15 in his return after missing 19 straight games with a sprained left ankle.

The Lakers went 5-3 on the tripA, which was necessitated by the Grammy awards taking over their home arena, and earned their second lopsided victory of the trek.

Los Angeles made its first seven from the field and shot 54.1%. The Lakers also scored 66 points in the paint to offset a 7 of 31 showing from 3-point range.

Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Porter missed all nine 3-point tries and was 7 of 18 overall.

Day’Ron Sharpe finished with 19 points and 14 boards for Brooklyn, which lost for the 17th time in 20 games and only led in the opening two minutes. Ziaire Williams contributed 17 for the Nets, who scored 69 points in the second half to make the final score more respectable.

The Nets shot 47.9% but missed 31 of 41 3-point attempts and allowed 23 points off 20 turnovers

Doncic scored 14 in the first quarter when the Lakers shot 83.3% (15 of 18) and opened a 45-23 lead. Los Angeles took its first 30-point lead when James hit a nine-footer for a 59-29 cushion with 7:53 left, a 36-point lead on Marcus Smart’s short jumper with 5:20 left and held a 69-40 edge by halftime.

Doncic’s stepback 3 extended the lead to 83-44 with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter and the Lakers held an 89-55 lead when James went to the bench with 4:25 left. Los Angeles held a 100-74 advantage through the third and led 111-83 when James checked out for the night with just over eight minutes left.

–Field Level Media