The Detroit Pistons have rattled off four straight wins after their slowest stretch of the season, a period that saw them lose three of five games and miss out on the NBA Cup. The brief rest that followed appears to have paid dividends, as Detroit dismantled a gritty Atlanta squad before grinding out an impressive road win in Boston on Monday.
Three takeaways from the last week of winning:
1. How clutch has Cade been?
We know who the Pistons are going to in crunch time, but just how good has Cade Cunningham been when it matters
most this season?
His two made shots in the final two minutes against Boston were a microcosm of what we’ve seen, dating back to the middle of last season.
Through 16 clutch games this season, Cunningham is firmly among the league’s best. His 26 made field goals in clutch situations trail only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — an incredible note considering how many fourth quarters Shai hasn’t needed to play. Cunningham’s 12 clutch assists rank second, behind only Jalen Johnson (15), while Detroit owns a +43 point differential with Cade on the floor in those moments, good for seventh-best in the NBA.
The one area for improvement is outside shooting. Cunningham is just 1-for-8 from three in clutch situations this season. While the Pistons have other options when a three is needed, Cade taking another step in that area would truly be the cherry on top.
2. Defense, too?
Cunningham’s stellar — and somehow still quiet — start to the season deserves another spotlight, particularly for his work on the defensive end.
In ESPN’s most recent NBA power rankings, where Detroit was slotted second overall, Vincent Goodwill noted that opponents are shooting under 41% when Cunningham is the primary defender. That mark leads all NBA players with at least 300 field-goal attempts defended.
For a player who ranks fifth in usage rate entering Thursday, Cunningham’s two-way impact is especially impressive. Detroit as a team owns the second-best defensive rating in the league, trailing only Oklahoma City, and has been near the top for much of the season. Cade’s growth as a defender is a testament to the culture of defense and physicality JB Bickerstaff has established but also to him for wanting to be a two-way star.
3. LeVert vs. Ivey
Detroit brought in Caris LeVert during the offseason to provide much-needed veteran presence and scoring after losing Dennis Schröder, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Malik Beasley. It took some time for LeVert to find his footing, but he now looks comfortable within the rotation.
Since Jaden Ivey’s return, LeVert’s minutes haven’t dipped much, hovering around 20 per night — nearly identical to Ivey’s workload now and Dannis Jenkins has essentially been bodied out of the rotation due to the influx of depth.
With both players likely to maintain similar roles the rest of the season, it will be interesting to see how Bickerstaff staggers their minutes or experiments with playing them together more. Each brings something different to the table: LeVert as a steady half-court scorer and shooter, and Ivey as a dynamic offensive spark on or off the ball, especially in transition. It’s a good problem to have, but something to monitor.
