Pistons’ Cunningham steals the show, named MVP of Rising Stars Challenge

Detroit News

Cleveland — Cade Cunningham showed a little bit of everything in the Rising Stars Challenge.

And he came away with the MVP as well. Cunningham had two good games, and he led Team Barry to the victory in the three-game tournament, with a 25-20 win over Team Isiah on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Cunningham was the catalyst with his ballhandling and scored five points in the final, along with 13 points, five rebounds and six assists in the semifinal win.

Team Isiah featured two other Pistons, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart.

The first semifinal game went down to the final basket, and in an exhibition of offense, Bey was a big contributor on both ends. He had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, but he saved the best for last.

Bey scored his final points on a drive to bring Team Isiah within 49-48, and he followed with the play of the game, when he was isolated defending the Houston Rockets’ Jalen Green on the potential game-winning shot.

Green drove and tried to pull up for a jumper, but Bey blocked the shot and gave Team Isiah a final shot to win. The Memphis Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane was fouled on a drive to the basket and made both free throws, for a 50-49 winning score.

“It was the last stop, so the competitive juices started flowing at the end, and I wanted to help my team win,” Bey said.

Isiah Stewart finished with 10 points and six rebounds for Team Isiah.

Green finished with 20 points and Jalen Suggs 16 points for Team Worthy.

In the second semifinal, Cunningham led the way with 13 points, five rebounds and six assists for Team Barry. He got into a good groove with eight straight points, including a pair of 3-pointers. He had an earlier three-point play, giving him 11 of Team Barry’s first 24 points.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard

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