Pistons' Cade Cunningham starting to look like All-NBA lock as surging Detroit wins seventh straight
For the first time in a decade, the Detroit Pistons have won seven straight games after a 106-97 win over the visiting Clippers on Monday. This is not just a recent run. Dating back more than two months, Detroit has won 21 of its last 30 games and is currently just one game back (two losses) from a top-four playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
At 32-26, the Pistons are comfortably the No. 6 seed with a four-game lead on No. 7 Orlando. At this point last season, the Pistons had eight wins. That 24-win turnaround is by far the biggest in the league. Nobody else is even close.
This is remarkable stuff. Sure, the Pistons added some offseason pieces that look great in hindsight (Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr.), but nobody was giving one ounce of thought to those guys, or this team, when the season started.
Four months later, Cade Cunningham is an All-Star making a hell of an All-NBA case (at this point, it would be almost impossible to keep him off at least the third team) and J.B. Bickerstaff is a top-three candidate for Coach of the Year after starting the season as a 40-1 long shot.
Cunningham, who was sensational again on Monday with 32 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals, is one of just two players averaging at least 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the season. The other is Nikola Jokić, whose plus-13.8 average point differential for the month of February is only a tick above Cunningham's plus-13.3. That's the sort of company Cunningham is starting to keep.
In fact, let's look at the All-NBA candidates. Remember, there are no positional requirements anymore and you have play in at least 65 games. Assuming all these players get to the 65-game threshold, there are no fewer than 10 locks for one of the three teams: Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
You could make a strong case for Cunningham over Mitchell, LeBron and/or Durant, but even if you put those 10 guys in and add Stephen Curry, who Cunningham, as of now, should also edge out, that still leaves four spots for Cunningham to claim. Again, barring some kind of massive torpedo over the last seven weeks, Cunningham should be a lock for third team with a case for second.
Harris has been huge addition for Cunningham, PistonsShout out to Harris, too. This guy took a beating in Philadelphia because of the huge contract the Sixers gave him that he was never going to be good enough to live up to, but he was always better than Twitter would have you believe. He started the season slow, but he's really come around. Since Jan. 1, only Gilgeous-Alexander has a higher total point-differential than Harris' plus-265.
"There's not enough that can be said about the impact [Harris] has had on this group," Cunningham said of Harris, whom Bickerstaff also described as the Pistons' "security blanket" for his ability to steady Detroit on both ends of the floor. "His leadership is big time. It's not always vocal. Most of the time by example. And that's the thing we love about him. He's one of the most professional guys that I've played with. That's a huge positive to our group.
"Also on the court, being able to settle up and down, being able to give him the ball and he goes [and] gets us points," Cunningham continued. "It's a lot I could say about Tobias. But I love playing with him. I'm super happy he's here. He's made a huge impact on me and the group."
It's true. All of Cunningham's numbers efficiency and impact numbers go up when he shares the court with Harris, notably his scoring and true shooting, which jumps over 10%. It's a product of Harris being able to serve as a release valve commanding one-on-one defensive attention, because he can always get his own shot, and Harris is just a good, even-keeled connector who tends to smooth out possessions for everyone.
While we're here, let's not forget about the aforementioned Beasley, who, as was recently pointed out by Zach Lowe, is on track to become the first player in NBA history outside of Curry to make 42% of his 3-pointers on at least 11 attempts per 36 minutes. Beasley is averaging over 16 points for Detroit and was 3 for 8 from 3 on Monday.
You can go down the the list in Detroit right now, and everyone is playing well. Jalen Duren is an athletic beast who can hammer down just about anything Cunningham throws up. Ausar Thompson, just like his brother Amen in Houston, is an elite defender and a one-percent athlete even among the one percenters. Rookie Ron Holland is making plays. Isaiah Stewart is an All-Defense caliber player and an incredible rim protector for a guy who's only 6-foot-8. Third-year guard Jaden Ivey, whose development was, or at least was supposed to be, one of the main focuses of this season -- even over actual wins -- was having a stellar season before he broke his fibula on Jan. 1.
Indeed, you can hear the "Deeeeeeee-troit basketball!" chants firing back up. The Pistons are one of the best stories in basketball right now. That said, extending their win streak to eight will be a tall order. The next game is at Boston on Wednesday.
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