Cade's near-comeback
- Cade Cunningham scored 25 points and dished 11 assists as Detroit nearly evened their series at home. (x.com, cbssports.com) - His 25 points and 11 assists were the standout box-score numbers that carried Detroit's effort. (x.com) - The result keeps pressure on top-seeded Pistons to respond after Orlando's surprising opener. (cbssports.com)
Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons answered Orlando’s opener with a 98-83 Game 2 win on April 22, tying the first-round series at 1-1. (espn.com) Cunningham finished with 27 points, 11 assists and six rebounds at Little Caesars Arena, and Detroit turned a tie game into separation by outscoring Orlando 38-16 in the third quarter. (nba.com) Five Pistons scored in double figures after Cunningham carried much of the offense in Game 1, when he put up a playoff-career-high 39 points in a 112-101 loss. (nba.com, espn.com) The win also ended Detroit’s 11-game home playoff losing streak, a drought that dated to 2008 and had become the longest active skid of its kind in the league’s postseason history. (espn.com) That mattered because Detroit entered the series as the East’s No. 1 seed after a 60-22 regular season, while Orlando arrived as the No. 8 seed at 45-37 and stole home-court advantage in the opener on April 19. (nba.com, espn.com) Through two games, Cunningham is averaging 33.0 points and 7.5 assists in the series, while Paolo Banchero leads Orlando at 20.5 points per game. (nba.com) Game 3 is set for Saturday, April 25, in Orlando, with the series reset after Detroit’s response at home. (nba.com)
