The Detroit Pistons did not beat the Philadelphia 76ers and if you asked Cade Cunningham if he had a good game, his answer would probably be an emphatic “no.”
Cunningham has struggled to shoot the ball in his first three games, though he did make his first 3-pointer last night, a bomb from the logo that came as the shot clock was winding down.
Even though a loss is still a loss, there were promising signs for the Pistons. Both Killian Hayes and Cade Cunningham looked more comfortable running the offense, which looked more fluid in the first half than it has all season.
The Pistons did a good job defending the paint, slowing down Joel Embiid and not getting killed on the boards, which has been a problem so far this season.
Cade didn’t shoot the ball well, but he impacted the game in a lot of ways, made his teammates better and still managed to get in the Pistons’ history books in just his third game as he tries to regain his legs after missing several weeks with an ankle injury.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham joins some elite company
If you are going to have your name in the Detroit Pistons’ record-books, you want to be alongside Isiah Thomas and Grant Hill and Cade Cunningham was able to join them last night:
Cade Cunningham has tallied his 1st career double-double tonight vs. PHI, becoming the 1st Piston since Grant Hill (11/4/94) to record a double-double in his 3rd career game or earlier. Cunningham joins Hill and Isiah Thomas as the only Pistons since 1980-81 to do so. #Pistons
— Pistons PR (@Pistons_PR) November 5, 2021
Again, I am sure Cade was not happy with his performance overall, but he did manage an 18 point/10 rebound double-double to become the first Pistons’ rookie to do so in his first three games since Grant Hill.
I am not one to put much emphasis on these types of stats considering the Detroit Pistons still lost and Cade shot 4-of-17 on the night, but it was promising to see him impact the game even though his shot was not falling.
Imagine when it is.
Cade Cunningham is going to be a guy who is a triple-double threat every time he steps on the floor and that day is coming very soon, as you can see his confidence growing with every shot.
When he finally has his legs under him 100 percent, these shots are going to stat falling and Cunningham is going to put up huge numbers.
I am sure he wasn’t happy with his night, but it was good to see some positivity and signs of big things to come.