The Pistons are 13-2 after beating the Hawks. Here’s why this start isn’t 100% random
On Tuesday evening, The Detroit Pistons have improved to 13-2 in the young NBA season 2025-26 with a record of 120-112 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The win marked Detroit’s 11th in a row, made even more impressive by the fact that it came on the second night in a row.
In this case, the Pistons led with 25 points and ten assists from the point guard Cade Cunningham, who returned from three-game absence to deliver two clutch buckets down the stretch for Detroit when things got tricky.
Some fans have derisively called the Pistons the “November Champions” and other names to indicate that their hot start to the season isn’t 100% legitimate, but so far there’s no reason to believe that isn’t the case.
A deep Pistons team
As of Wednesday, the Detroit Pistons have the NBA’s No. 2 defensive rating, thanks in large part to the lethal frontcourt defensive duo of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, who combined to essentially fence off the paint against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
The Pistons also have some strong perimeter defenders on their roster, including Auzar Thompson and Ron Holland II. In fact, the only Pistons player that opposing teams can consistently target on that end of the floor is Duncan Robinson, who more than made up for it with 14 points in a win over Atlanta.
Still, the head of the snake for Detroit is Cunningham, who didn’t miss a beat in the rematch against the Hawks, constantly correcting double teams in the first half to get his teammates open shots, then taking over and making plays himself when Atlanta started guarding him one-on-one in the second.
While the Pistons likely won’t maintain their 13-2 winning streak for the rest of the season, they’re still clearly a strong team that can win games in a variety of ways, and they’re still not 100% healthy.
Next up for the Pistons is a road game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
2025-11-19 18:25:00
