The Detroit Pistons finally broke out of their offensive funk last night in a huge road win over the Toronto Raptors.
It was a gritty effort for the Pistons, who were on the second game of a back-to-back and coming off an atrocious beating where they scored 78 points.
The Pistons cut down the turnovers, finally made some shots and got a nice team effort on offense, spreading the scoring around before Jerami Grant took over in the 4th quarter.
Killian Hayes recorded his first double-double and hit some huge shots down the stretch, so it was an all-around team win for Detroit.
Cade Cunningham had a quiet night, scoring just ten points, but in this case it wasn’t how many he scored but when, as Cunningham showed the clutch DNA you want from your team leader.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham is clutch
“Clutch” time just refers to the final five minutes of a close game and Cade Cunningham has shined in those moments.
Last year he led all of college basketball in clutch points scored, and he is off to a great start in the NBA, shooting 71 percent in clutch situations so far. He took over the game late in Houston and had some huge points for Detroit when it counted most against the Raptors.
The first play didn’t actually happen in clutch time but I wanted to highlight it anyway because I thought it changed the momentum. Toronto went up nine in the first quarter and it seemed like a “here we go again” situation. It felt like the Pistons might be teetering on the brink of another blowout, especially coming off a bad game in Cleveland.
With Toronto trying to extend the lead to double-digits, Cade Cunningham was able to knock down a 3-point shot off a Pistons’ stop that really changed the momentum of the game early. The Pistons were able to weather the storm and were only down three at the end of the first quarter.
Cunningham was held in check most of the night from there, but with just over two minutes left in the 4th, the Pistons were clinging to a lead and struggling to get good shots on offense. Jerami Grant looked gassed, so the Pistons were going to need to get a hoop from someone else.
Cade recognized the situation and took it to the hoop out of isolation for a nice little jump hook to give the Pistons a bigger cushion.
But the play of the game came with just over a minute left, as Cade Cunningham again took it strong to the hoop, this time finishing with the left hand in spectacular fashion to put the Pistons up five and seal the game:
Cade using the Southpaw up north ⬆️@BallySportsDET | @CadeCunningham_ pic.twitter.com/iSQ2C1xLxg
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 14, 2021
Cunningham may have only had 10 points on the night, but all of them were huge. His first 3-pointer stopped a big Toronto run in the first quarter.
His final four points all came in “clutch” time with the game on the line.
In a night where he was overshadowed by Killian Hayes, Jerami Grant and Isaiah Stewart, Cade Cunningham still came up with some of the biggest plays of the game and showed why he has a reputation for being clutch.