Cade Cunningham and AJ Dybantsa. Image via: Getty Images
Cade Cunningham scored a career-high 52 points to lead the Detroit Pistons past the Washington Wizards 144-140 in double overtime on Thursday, Nov. 12, at Capital One Arena. Late in regulation, with 26 seconds left and Washington up 118-117, Cunningham’s jaw crashed into the face of AJ Dybantsa. Cunningham had the ball with 26 seconds left in regulation and the Wizards ahead 118-117. The 2026 No. 1 overall pick, who was guarding him, fell backward and grabbed his mouth. Regulation ended tied at 121. Cunningham, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick, took over from there. His 47th point, a 3-pointer in the first overtime, tied the game at 130 and passed his previous career high. Dybantsa took a pass from Trae Young, dribbled and pulled up at the free throw line to tie the game at 132 with 0.1 seconds left in the first overtime. It forced the second extra period, which Detroit won 12-8.
Washington put blood, sweat and tears into this one and still lost by four. The Wizards rookie went down on his back with blood dripping from his mouth. A trainer tended to him. He got up, stayed in the game, and later hit a jumper from the free throw line to force a second extra period. He tried to twirl and change direction, and when he came back around, his jaw caught the side of Dybantsa’s face. Blood started dripping while he lay on the court and a trainer tended to him. Dybantsa got back to his feet and stayed in the game without sitting out a single stretch.
Three nights earlier he had thrown down a big dunk against the same Pistons, so this was his second game against them in the same week.
He finished with 52 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block, and he did not turn the ball over once. He is the first player to reach 50 points and 10 assists in a game without a turnover, according to the league. Washington is the first NBA team to lose a game with three 30-point scorers since the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2023.