Cade Cunningham was the best he has ever been Monday. His leadership may be even better.
ATLANTA — Forty-three points. Seven assists. Five rebounds. Three steals.
And another loss.
Monday night was more bitter than sweet for Cade Cunningham, who played the best game of his career to try to lead a reeling Detroit Pistons team to its first victory in more than six weeks. The 2021 first overall pick scored 31 points in the second half and hit 16 of his 24 field goal attempts against the Atlanta Hawks, in their own arena. His heroics allowed Detroit to slash a 16-point deficit to six with just over a minute left.
But his best still wasn’t enough. Despite his career-high point total and a strong 25-point, five 3-pointer outing from Bojan Bogdanovic, the Pistons suffered their 24th consecutive defeat, 130-124. Only two teams in NBA history have had longer in-season losing streaks.
Deflating, right? Cunningham couldn’t take solace in his standout performance after the game. But his news conference highlighted something else Monty Williams has credited him for — leadership. The Pistons, ultimately, were undone by their own miscues: eight missed free throws, poor defense that allowed the Hawks to shoot 54.1%, and mental mistakes during crunch time.
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He took a broad perspective when he addressed the media.
“(The margin for error) is small, but I think it gives us an opportunity to learn and, if we can put it together, the great teams put it all together,” the 22-year-old said. “The margin for error in the NBA is small. We have to be able to put all those things together to be a winning team, and we have to learn from the games where we know we have a hole here, we fix everything else. Then the next game we fix that hole and something else opens up. It’s all a learning experience for us and we have a young team, and we need to have these moments. We hate where it’s gotten, but we need these moments to learn and get better.”
He and Williams have maintained a dialogue through the Pistons’ struggles. And there have been many struggles. They’ve been battered by injuries, poor shooting and the realization that they’re still far from being a competitive basketball team. But Cunningham has been focusing on the big picture. He’s been an encouraging voice in the locker room. Since Day 1, the organization has been impressed with the poise he’s carried himself with.
Williams has only worked with him for six months, but he’s also come away impressed.
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“We texted a little bit yesterday and I told him today it’s tremendous watching his leadership during what will probably be the toughest time of his career,” Williams said. “I couldn't be more proud of how he’s talked to the group, had a great spirit every single day. He shows the pain of losing, but at the same time he’s been the glue for us. With all the guys we’ve had out all season long, he’s been one guy of many that has stepped up and led in a tremendous way. I’m grateful that I get a chance to partner and coach with this young man.”
“I want to win,” Cunningham said when told of Williams’ kind words. “We all do. It’s not just me, it’s other guys that are saying the right things in the locker room, trying to get everybody going. But I have a lot of responsibility on the court, so I think it’s important for me to be a voice and try to uplift everybody. I know they always try to uplift me. I’ve always been that way. Just trying to do everything we can to get things rolling.”
Monday’s loss was another game that highlighted just how little room for error this Pistons team has. But it also showcased the in-season growth Cunningham has made in the midst of a bleak season. He’s shot better than 50% in five of his last nine games. After being turnover-prone through his first 20 games, he hasn’t had more than three in any of his last six.
But his outburst against the Hawks was the type of highlight night many had been waiting to see. He wasn’t flustered by their blitzing defense, moving the ball rather than forcing the issue. He attacked open lanes, knocked down open 3’s and made eight of his nine free throws — the fifth time this season he has taken at least nine.
“He’s just growing,” Williams said. “As much as he had the ball tonight, he only had three turnovers. I’ve had young guards before trying to get them to understand when you’re getting blitzed like that you’re gonna have to sacrifice your shot. Not like is always looking for his shot. I thought he did a good job of stretching their double-teams, and it allowed for him to find guys. We just missed a bunch of shots to start the game. And then they got out of their blitz, and he started getting downhill making a number of shots for himself and for the team.”
Monday marked the one-third mark of the season — 27 games. The Pistons are 2-25 overall. This season has gone worse than anyone could’ve predicted. Cunningham acknowledges that he has had his struggles this year, like everyone else. But a season after he was in a “dark place,” in his own words, due to season-ending shin surgery, he’s grateful to be on the court.
And he sees better days ahead, even though it’s the team — rather than himself — that’s in a dark place now.
“I want to win, so until I’m winning, there’s definitely no room to slip,” he said. “We’re all human, we all have our ups and downs. I’ve had my ups and downs throughout the year and there’s more to come. You have to keep your mind steady as best as you can, and I just try to attack every day and see what I can get out of it. Staying with it, man. Nothing else I can do. Can’t hide, can’t run.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham impresses as leader after career game
