Cade Cunningham: Bizarre clutch time stats, woes and swats

One thing this Detroit Pistons’ season hasn’t been so far is boring. 

It seems like just about every game has been a nail-biter, with the Pistons going down to the wire in each of their last six. 

Detroit is tied for the most tight games in the NBA, with nine of them decided in clutch-time, not a great place to be for a team that has had a hard time closing out games over recent years. 

Cade Cunningham has taken the brunt of the criticism for the Pistons’ 4th-quarter woes (even though the team is 4-5 in close games) and he is putting up some bizarre stats, both good and bad, in the clutch this season. 

Cade Cunningham stats: Offense in the clutch 

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Cade Cunningham has to be better in the 4th quarter if the Pistons are going to continue to improve. 

This isn’t all on him, as teams are selling out to keep the ball out of his hands, so JB Bickerstaff has to find more creative ways to get him the ball in scoring position and Cunningham has to be better about leaning on his teammates when the double teams and traps come. 

Clutch time is loosely defined as the last five minutes of a close game, and so far, Cade is shooting just 31.6 percent in those situations and has yet to make a 3-point shot. 

It’s tough when you are being double teamed constantly and never get foul calls, but Cunningham has to get better shots with the game on the line and not force things into the teeth of the defense when they collapse on him. 

Cunningham is averaging the 6th-most turnovers per clutch time performance and given the number of games the Pistons have played in these situations, he is 1st in the NBA in total number. 

He’s also had some strange issues, as Cade is shooting just 77 percent from the line in clutch time, a problem that has plagued the entire Pistons’ team and already cost them two games when guys couldn’t hit free throws that would have sealed it. 

Being a reliable closer is the last step Cade Cunningham needs to take to be a star, as he is putting up All-Star numbers and playing much better defensively, even in the clutch. 

Cade Cunningham: Clutch swats 

One area in which Cade has been excellent in the clutch is blocked shots. He is 6th in the NBA in block rate in the clutch and his five clutch-time blocks actually leads the NBA by a wide margin. 

Only one other player, Kevin Durant (3), has more than two. Cunningham, along with the rest of the Pistons, have mostly been dialed in defensively late in the game, which we saw again in the last one against the Raptors. 

But their offensive woes are troublesome, and will hurt them even more over time. This starts with Cade Cunningham, who has to take care of the ball and get better shots when the game is on the line.