Despite Cade Cunningham's best efforts, the Pistons suffered another defeat and failed to advance in the NBA Cup. Cade had 39 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against the Magic but the Pistons' once-impressive bench unit let him down. The rest of the team struggled to score with any consistency and it led to clear fatigue for Cade by the end of the game.
Cade needs more offensive help
Not only did Cade have to create a staggering amount of shots for himself and teammates, but he also couldn't rely on anyone else to hit a 3 when it mattered most. He was the only reliable long-range shooter for the Pistons, finishing 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Even the Pistons' typical sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, who has been having an overall strong shooting season, was only 3-of-11 from deep against a tough Orlando defense.
The Pistons were hoping to give Cade more rest with the emergence of Caris LeVert and return of Jaden Ivey. But both very ineffective in this game and the bench unit as a whole struggled. In the 8 minutes that Cade rested, the Pistons were outscored by a whopping 19 points. For those keeping score at home, that means Cade played a Herculean 40 minutes in a physical matchup. He was also a +16 in those minutes while doing everything for the Pistons.
In the last few possessions, it was clear that Cade's large workload was catching up to him. He missed a couple of easy finishes and looked like he didn't have his legs under him. He also missed some crucial free throws: one to put the Pistons up 2 with 2:48 remaining and the first of two free throws down 3 in the closing seconds. This came after going 9-of-9 from the stripe until that point, proving that his shooting was on point before the minutes really piled up.
Forcing Cade to play so many minutes and carry the offense the whole time also exposes his weaknesses. He's already prone to turning the ball over carelessly at times, but it gets even worse as he gets tired. He finished this game with a disastrous 8 turnovers, 3 of which came in the fourth quarter. It's obviously an area that Cade needs to improve, but the Pistons are not doing him any favors by struggling to create offense without him.
Continuing to rely on Cade this heavily to get any offense going will not be sustainable in the long term. It's a clear weakness for the Pistons that good teams can expose consistently. If someone else doesn't step up soon, the season could take a turn for the worse very quickly. Right now, Cade Cunningham is doing his best to be Superman for the Pistons but even superheroes needs their sidekicks.