Congratulations to everyone who kept their Cade Cunningham stock. The fourth-year point guard’s special start to the season continued with his third straight triple-double in the Pistons’ 122-121 win over Atlanta on Friday.
Cunningham finished with 22 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, and it was his running lefty hook with 8.5 seconds to play that proved to be the game-winner.
We tend to make too big a deal about a lot of plays NBA players make, but this is a tough finish that Cunningham made look like a walk in the park. To drop it that softly, that high off the glass, with the off hand, over two defenders at the apex of their contests, with the game on the line? That’s nasty work.
But the game wasn’t over. Atlanta had its shot to counter on the other end, and it indeed looked, for a split second, like Hawks guard Trae Young had created a point-blank finish with a beautiful draw-and-drop dish to Onyeka Okongwu. But who came out of nowhere to seal the win with a block from behind? Cunningham.
“I don’t say this lightly. He’s the guy,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Cunningham, who tied Grant Hill for the longest triple-double streak in Pistons history.
“It’s crazy, man,” Cunningham said of matching Hill’s franchise mark. “Grant was unbelievable. I wasn’t alive when he was doing his thing, but I watched highlights on highlights. I’ve met him in person. So to be in that same conversation is a blessing. I’m just trying to do what I can to help my team win games.”
Cunningham is certainly doing that. It’s Nov. 8 and the Pistons have already won their fourth game. Last season they didn’t win their third until Dec. 30, when they snapped their NBA record 28-game losing streak.
Cunningham has always been a good player. He’s supremely skilled with elite positional size and strength. Let’s not make it like this is some make-or-break season for him. But yes, there were people — and probably still are people — who bailed on the idea of him being a true Tier-1 superstar that you could genuinely build a contender around, mostly because of his shooting inefficiency.
The jury is still out on the efficiency, by the way. Cunningham entered Friday in just the 38th percentile among combo guards with 110.5 points per 100 shot attempts, per Cleaning the Glass, which is basically identical to last season’s number. He’s actually shooting worse from 3 at under 35%. He turned it over seven times on Friday and is near five fumbles a game for the season.
But he is doing everything for this Pistons team, and the eye test is impressive. So are the raw numbers, as Cunningham is one of just four players averaging at least 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds so far this season. The other three are Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Not exactly bad company.
Where Cunningham has made real strides is in his shot diet. He has traded in a lot of long mid-range shots for 8.8 shots per game under 10 feet, which he is connecting on at a 54% clip. Per CTG, he’s making 53% of his shots between 4-to-14 feet at the highest volume of his career. Both put him in the upper echelon of his combo-guard counterparts.
It really is coming together for Cunningham, and by extension, the Pistons. There is a lot of talent on this roster. Detroit is playing hard and with a palpable belief. That starts with Cunningham. He’s the best player on the team and still one of the best young guards in the league. If his early season play holds up, he’s likely going to making the first All-Star appearance of his career.
