For those who want evidence for why Cade Cunningham was the near-consensus No. 1 overall pick in a stacked draft, the Detroit Pistons‘ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday provided plenty.
Cunningham had one of his worst first halves of the season, with 10 straight misses. It appeared he was heading toward another poor night after scoring just eight points against the Orlando Magic two days prior. But it ended up being one of his best performances of the season.
He finished with a 19-point, 10-assist, 10-rebound triple-double to lead the Pistons (12-37) to a rally past over the Cavaliers, 115-105. It’s the second triple-double of Cunningham’s career, and it happened against one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams. Cunningham was 6-for-11 shooting in the second half, with all of his points after halftime.
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Saddiq Bey added 31 points, with 23 in the second half. Frank Jackson scored 19 points off of the bench, Trey Lyles added 15 points and Isaiah Stewart had a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds).
The Cavaliers opened with a 15-0 run, but Detroit closed the fourth quarter with a dominant 26-7 run. The Pistons took their first lead of the night with 5:19 to play and didn’t look back.
Jackson, bench carry Pistons through cold start
The Pistons missed their first eight shots before a 3-pointer by Saddiq Bey broke their slump. It was the last bucket by a Detroit starter for a while. Dwane Casey made quick substitutions, bringing in Frank Jackson and Rodney McGruder early in search of an offensive spark.
Jackson delivered, scoring 13 of his 19 points in six productive first-quarter minutes to help the Pistons recover. He hit his first four shots, including three 3-pointers, to help Detroit cut the deficit to five at the end of the first quarter. Detroit closed the opening quarter with a 24-14 run. The bench scored 29 of the Pistons’ first 32 points, with McGruder and Lyles doing their part to keep the margin close.
Bey, Cunningham erupt in second half
Cunningham and Bey shot a combined 3-for-19 in the first half, and it was a big factor in Detroit falling behind.
Bey and Cunningham countered their collective poor start with a supercharged third quarter. Bey scored 19 points in the period, and Cunningham added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting. In the second half, they scored 42 of Detroit’s 66 points.
They were responsible for numerous highlight plays down the stretch, but a few stand out. Cunningham knocked down two clutch 3-pointers in the final six minutes during the Pistons’ game-clinching run, the first of which came after tracking down an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Stewart. And Bey, after out-muscling Cleveland’s defense in the paint throughout most of the half, made a good pass to Stewart with about two minutes remaining to extend the lead to 106-100.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa. The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here’s how you can gain access to our most exclusive Pistons content. Read more on the Detroit Pistons and sign up for our Pistons newsletter.