Cade Cunningham is reaching a historic plateau

The Detroit Pistons returned to their winning identity by decisively defeating the Orlando Magic 135-116 to improve to 3-2. Breakthrough performance of All NBA point guard Cade Cunningham he led with a historic stat line in a much-needed win for Detroit.

Cunningham turned in his most dominant performance of the season, recording 30 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks. The 2025 All-Star he also managed to take care of the ball exceptionally well with zero turnovers. Cunningham joins only six other players in NBA history (LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, James Harden and Dwyane Wade) to record those numbers over the past 20 years.

“I thought he just continued to be aggressive. He figured out where his spots were on the floor to attack and try to stay away from traffic and try to stay away from multiple bodies,” head coach JB Bickerstaff said to the question about Cunningham’s slow start.

“He found more isolation situations, and not always in the pick-and-roll. I thought that was good for him. But then again, he’s Cade Cunningham for a reason, right? And we’re lucky to have him.”

There’s been a common theme this season among the Pistons’ top point guards: They’ve struggled to get off to a slow start in scoring. Cunningham scored 19 of his 30 points in the second half against the Magic. Cunningham shared his thoughts on what helped him shake off his slow start during the postgame media session.

“A lot of things. My team is helping me, setting good screens, spacing the floor. I thought we were a lot more efficient offensively,” Cunningham explained. “Then I think it was just a mindset for me, but my teammates pushing me and telling me to keep going was huge.

Six different Pistons scored in double figures in their winning effort. Forward Tobias Harris was impressive, scoring 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Center Jalen Duren picked up his second double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Guard Duncan Robinson scored 15 points in 29 minutes. Forward Ausar Thompson recorded 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

The high number of fouls continues for the Pistons

The Magic benefited from a lot of offense going against the Pistons. Officials whistled Detroit for 28 fouls Wednesday night. This sent Orlando to the free throw line 40 times, where he connected on 28 of those attempts. All-Star forward Paolo Banchero was the biggest beneficiary as he hit 10 of 17 attempts at the line.

The Pistons averaged the second most fouls per game in the NBA at 28.2. Reserve center Isaiah Stewart fouled out for the second time this season against Orlando. Bickerstaff noted that he wants his team to be physical and says he doesn’t want them to change their foundation.

“The league needs to look at what’s going on. It’s not just us, fouls are happening all over the league. Last year, more physicality was allowed on the defensive end of the floor,” Bickerstaff said. “For us, the most important thing is silly fouls. There’s a lot of reaching and catching that we can eliminate. But I don’t want us to lose our physicality. Our physicality is our identity.”

The Pistons return to action against the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.