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Pistons game stars Isaiah Stewart in rout of Bulls, no Cade Cunningham

Updated Jan. 7, 2026, 11:00 p.m. ET

The Detroit Pistons already were already shorthanded before they found out they would be without their superstar point guard as well.

Cade Cunningham was ruled out of their Wednesday, Jan. 7, home game at Little Caesars Arena against the Chicago Bulls 45 minutes before the opening tip. He joined Jalen Duren (right ankle sprain) and Tobias Harris (left hip sprain) in street clothes on the bench.

A career night from Isaiah Stewart helped the Pistons overcome their injuries.

Stewart scored a career-high 31 points on 14-for-17 overall shooting to lead the Pistons over the Bulls, 108-93. He carried the Pistons early with 17 points at halftime.

It initially was a poor offensive night for a Pistons team down three starters and its top two scorers − players not named “Stewart” were 13-for-37 (35.1%) overall from the floor in the first half. As a team, they only made four of their 18 3-point attempts (22.2%) in that stretch.

But the first-place Pistons (28-9) dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bulls 32-16 while holding them to 6-for-18 (33.3%) shooting.

“I mean, that’s the spark for us all the time,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game of the defense. “Tonight, it was kind of ugly and uncomfortable. Offensively, we couldn’t really catch a rhythm. But we knew if we could get stops, we could get out in transition, we could figure out a way. For us, it’ll always come down to the defensive end of the floor. That’s our catalyst. It triggers our offense. It triggers the energy, the spirit of the guys. So again, I think we did a great job figuring out how to get stops and then let the offense come from that.”

Two-way guard Daniss Jenkins, who finished with two points, six rebounds and 15 assists with one turnover in 28 minutes, conducted an 18-5 Pistons run in the third and fourth quarters that gave the Pistons an 83-77 at the 10:15 mark of the final period. He tallied assists on the Pistons’ final three buckets of the third, and their first two of the fourth quarter until Ron Holland capped the run with a defensive rebound and coast-to-coast dunk.

The Pistons controlled the final period, outscoring the Bulls 21-8 by the 4:10 mark to take a 97-85. First, a 3-pointer from rookie Chaz Lanier extended the lead to 10, and then a midrange jumper from Paul Reed made it a 12-point game.

Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls (17-20) with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Matas Buzelis also scored 20.

Caris LeVert returned for the Pistons after missing four games with left knee inflammation. Jaden Ivey received his first start of the season in place of Cunningham.

The Pistons next play Saturday night at home against the Los Angeles Clippers (7:30 p.m., FSNDX).

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Beef Stew steps up on offense

Stewart was aggressive out of the gate, scoring 11 in the first quarter. He repeatedly found space in the paint and finished layups and hooks with both hands. He led off the second quarter with another layup, courtesy of a drive and dump-off pass from LeVert, and closed the half with an alley-oop layup from Jenkins.

As the Pistons’ offense stalled early in the third with the Bulls packing the paint, Stewart took advantage of the spacing by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Late in the quarter, a dunk off of an assist from Jenkins brought them within one and jumpstarted their 18-5 run that turned a seven-point deficit into a six-point lead early in the fourth.

He and Jenkins were responsible for two decisive buckets − both dunks − that helped them close out the win. Jenkins tossed a lob to Stewart for an alley-oop to set a new career-high with 27 points, then found him open under the rim the following possession, making it a seven-point lead.

With 2:13 on the clock, Stewart hit yet another jump hook over Vucevic for his final points.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, I didn’t think I would touch 31 or 30 at this level just because of my role and the way I play,” Stewart said in the locker room. “But when you have guys that’s down and you need another urge on offense, my mind tonight was just to be ultra aggressive, try to take the right shots, try to propel us forward.”

Chaz Lanier hits key shots in final period

The rookie wing checked in for the first time to open the fourth quarter, presumably to address the Pistons’ spacing issues throughout the game. Lanier scored eight points in the final period, and capped his performance with a 3-pointer to push the lead to double-digits.

Lanier hasn’t played much this season, mostly garbage time minutes through his first 16 games. He delivered with instant offense off the bench on a night the Pistons needed help. He played all 12 minutes in the fourth.

Jaden Ivey logs first start of season

It had been more than a calendar year since Ivey last started a basketball game − Jan. 1, the same day he suffered a fibula injury that ended his season. The team’s performance staff has slowly ramped Ivey up since making his debut Nov. 22, and he played a season-high 28 minutes and 44 seconds in last week’s road loss to the Clippers.

He was active right away Wednesday, tallying three assists in the opening five minutes. But it otherwise was a modest night, finishing with eight points and four assists in 20 minutes.