Dallas Mavericks looking to upset East's best Detroit Pistons

It was a one-game trip away from home for the Dallas Mavericks, but now they're back at home to face the Detroit Pistons, who sit in first place in the Eastern Conference. This will be another tough test for a Mavs team that has been able to find some success recently.

These two teams have already played once, with the Pistons coming away with a 122-110 win in Mexico City early on in the year. It was the sixth game of the year for both teams, so they weren't quite sure how it would play out. Detroit took that win to then rip off a 13-game winning streak. Dallas would lose that game as the first of 7 in 8 games. The Mavs have turned it around recently, but it looked ugly early.

The Pistons are on a four-game winning streak, coming off a 112-105 win over the surprisingly tough Boston Celtics, while also beating the Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Atlanta Hawks in this run.

Cade Cunningham was electric in that win over the Celtics, as he has been all season, putting up 32 points and 10 assists, while being an unusually strong 6/10 from three. He's averaging 27.1 PPG, 9.2 APG, and 6.0 RPG this season. Generally, as he goes, the Pistons go. And he's been going at as high of a level as almost anyone in the NBA.

Dec 6, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) shoots in the second half against the Milwaukee Bucks at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Jalen Duren has also broken out as a legitimate upper-echelon center, averaging 18.0 PPG and 11.0 RPG. That pick-and-roll combo, surrounded by shooters like Duncan Robinson and Tobias Harris, makes this a tough team to deal with.

The Mavericks lost on Monday night to the Utah Jazz as Anthony Davis missed the game, but Cooper Flagg went nuclear, putting up a record-setting 42 points. It's the most points any 18-year-old has scored in a game and tied the franchise record for points in a game by a rookie. He's getting better every week and is averaging 25.7 PPG over his last seven games, a stretch where the Mavericks are 5-2.

How this season goes doesn't really matter to Mavericks fans as long as Cooper Flagg continues to develop as a scorer. He should be the primary focus of the franchise, and we've started to see that over the last few games.