February 11, 1968. Madison Square Garden, fourth of its name, opens its doors in New York. Since that date, not a single Pistons player had signed a triple-double in the legendary lair of the Knicks. Until last night, with Cade Cunningham.
The leader of the Pistons signed one of his best career performances at the heart of a benchmark victory for his team, which was nevertheless having a lot of difficulty winning at the moment (7 defeats in 9 games).
Author of a 3-point basket in the corner early in the match, he especially shone with his passing game in transition in the first minutes of the game. And opened up good passing angles for his shooters, including Malik Beasley.
Then in the second quarter, he took care of the scoring himself with several award-winning baskets despite the close defense of the Knicks. But throughout the evening, he gave the impression of perfect control in his decisions.
Few lost balloons
The most wasteful player in the league with nearly 5 lost balls per game, Cade Cunningham took care of his transmissions and his readings on the “pick-and-roll”. On arrival, only 3 “turnovers” and above all, a new career record in passing with 15 units.
An immense creative performance complemented his 29 points (9/17 on shots including 5/8 from distance) and 10 rebounds – in the history of the Pistons, only Isiah Thomas finished with at least 25 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds – for 43 rating. Not to mention the defensive efforts noticed by his coach.
“ He did a great job. He set the tone of the match. And then defensively, we asked him to be sure (Jalen) Brunson, and I thought he did a really good job of staying in front of him and containing him. He signed a complete match “, qualifies JB Bickerstaffwho says he saw “ Pistons' basketball » in the performance of his players.
With five triple-doubles on the clock, he is getting closer to the franchise record holder in this area over a season: Grant Hill, who recorded 10 in 1995-96, then 13 the following season.
The Pistons also ended a series of 16 consecutive losses against the Knicks (last victory in November 2019), while Cunningham signed his first victory at the Garden. Difficult to do better in the same evening.
| Cade Cunningham | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2021-22 | DET | 64 | 33 | 41.6 | 31.4 | 84.5 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 17.4 |
| 2022-23 | DET | 12 | 33 | 41.5 | 27.9 | 83.7 | 1.0 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 19.9 |
| 2023-24 | DET | 62 | 34 | 44.9 | 35.5 | 86.9 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 7.5 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 22.7 |
| 2024-25 | DET | 20 | 36 | 45.2 | 37.8 | 77.9 | 1.1 | 6.0 | 7.2 | 9.1 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 23.6 |
| Total | 158 | 33 | 43.5 | 33.6 | 84.6 | 0.8 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 20.4 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
