Cunningham scores 26 points to lead Pistons past 76ers 111-108 for 6th straight win

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cade Cunningham made two clutch baskets down the stretch and finished with 26 points, Jalen Duren had 21 points and 16 rebounds and the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons extended their winning streak to six games with a 111-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.

Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points for Philadelphia, which played without Joel Embiid. Andre Drummond, starting for Embiid, had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers.

The teams play again on Friday in Detroit.

Embiid did not play in the second game of a back-to-back after scoring 29 points in Philadelphia’s 130-120 win over Toronto on Saturday night. Embiid has played in six of 10 games as he continues to recover from offseason left knee surgery. He is averaging 19.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 23.3 minutes.

Detroit led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter but trailed 101-100 with 4:54 remaining after a Maxey 3-pointer.

Cunningham capped a 9-3 Detroit run with a dunk over Drummond and then converted the free throw after being fouled to give the Pistons a 109-104 lead with 1:51 left.

After four straight points from Maxey pulled the 76ers within a point, Cunningham drained a fadeaway jumper from just in front of the free-throw line with 16.9 seconds to play to put Detroit ahead by three. After a 76ers timeout, Maxey managed to get off a last-second 3-pointer that rimmed out.

Maxey, who got “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants from the 76ers crowd late in the fourth quarter, is averaging 33.2 points.

Pistons: Host Washington on Monday night.

76ers: Host Boston on Tuesday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. goes up for a dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe, right, tries to get past Detroit Pistons' Javonte Green during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe, left, goes up for a shot past Detroit Pistons' Javonte Green during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham, center, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr., left, and Trendon Watford during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.

Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.

“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”

The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)