INDIANAPOLIS — As the clock ticked inside three minutes left in the third quarter, Cade Cunningham dribbled toward the right wing around another screen from Isaiah Stewart. The Detroit Pistons got what they wanted, forcing Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner to switch to Cunningham.
As Pacers guard T.J. McConnell pursued Cunningham from behind, Stewart rolled to the basket. As prescribed, Obi Toppin, Indiana’s forward covering the left corner, dropped into the paint to cover Stewart.
Once again, that left Ausar Thompson all alone in the corner.
It was the third wide-open look from the same spot. The first two missed badly, hitting the side of the rim. Thompson, the second-year forward working his way back from a blood clot issue, looked like a career 18.8 percent 3-point shooter on his first two looks.
Yet, when Cunningham saw Thompson drift toward Stewart in the paint, he knew the same action had produced the same look. And even though the same shooter stood in the corner, Cunningham made the same decision. He zipped a two-hand pass over his head to the left corner into Thompson’s shooting pocket and Thompson knocked it down.
The message was delivered.
“That I believe in him, more than anything,” Cunningham said postgame of the message he was sending Thompson. “I’ve seen the work that he’s put in. He has confidence in it, so I have confidence in it. If they were going to continue to guard it like that, he was the only open guy so it’s on him to make a play. I believe he felt confident in that shot. That’s why he kept shooting it.”
The presence of Cunningham alone changes the swagger of the Pistons. His return after a three-game absence, due to a left sacroiliac joint sprain, infused Detroit with new life. The Pistons dominated the Pacers 130-06 on Friday night, improving to 3-0 in the NBA Cup standings.
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Cade Cunningham, defense are difference as Pistons improve to 2-0 in NBA Cup
But it’s more than just Cunningham’s presence. It’s more than just the 24 points and 11 assists he produced. It’s the confidence he instills into his teammates, intentionally as well as indirectly.
His playmaking is a declaration of his belief in them. Friday’s game provided an example of his determination to lift the Pistons back to relevance. The comfortable win at Indiana provided a three-possession illustration of Cunningham’s understanding that he can’t do it alone.
Detroit (9-12) currently sits in the final Play-In spot. On Tuesday, the Pistons will host Milwaukee Bucks, also 3-0 in the NBA Cup, to see which team advances from Group B.
Despite the difficulties the Pistons have endured already, the window to do something special is right before them. How special it becomes seems to depend on who steps up to join Cunningham.
“He shows belief in his teammates and that’s what leadership is,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Cunningham postgame. “Cade is the type of person and player that he’s with you no matter the good and the bad. He believes in you because he watches how hard everybody works and he knows what everybody is capable of. When you have a leader that believes in you, it gives you more comfort and more confidence.”
J.B. Bickerstaff spoke to the media following tonight’s win pic.twitter.com/sbaYaFba0n
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 30, 2024
After Thompson missed a second-consecutive corner 3-point attempt, he met Cunningham at half court and high-fived him during a dead ball. The two met inside the free-throw line nearest their bench, where the restricted area was designed to look like the NBA Cup trophy, while the Pacers were preparing to inbound the ball.
It was almost as if Thompson thanked Cunningham for going back to him after the first miss.
This is just the third appearance of the season for Thompson, whose rookie campaign ended early due to the blood clot issue. Bickerstaff has reiterated the organization would be patient with the 21-year-old wing’s recovery. Thompson is averaging 4.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists on 23.2 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range in 16.1 minutes.
Despite the less-than-stellar shooting percentages, Thompson has been working on his 3-point jumper with Pistons shooting coach Fred Vinson. If Thompson, who possesses elite athleticism and is the team’s best perimeter defender, can develop a consistent 3-point shot, he has a chance to blossom into a premier two-way player.
The kind that can make a real difference to the Pistons chances.
“But, again,” Bickerstaff said, “give Ausar the credit because he had the confidence to keep taking them. He didn’t hesitate.”
Thompson had already decided to launch the third one before the pass ever came.
“I was shooting it if I got it again,” Thompson said as Jalen Duren blasted Toure in the locker room.
Duren is another player who directly benefits from Cunningham’s return. The pick-and-rolls between the two led to one of their signature alley-oops.
i missed this. pic.twitter.com/HjHRKzMr7q
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 30, 2024
The two have a chemistry in those situations that Duren doesn’t have with any other player on this roster. He finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Duren offers a unique skill set as a big man who averages 3.3 offensive rebounds but also can occasionally bring the ball up the floor and initiate offense on his own. Cunningham just adds another wrinkle to his game with the ability to turn him into a lob threat.
Thompson’s lone basket was Cunningham’s ninth assist of the game. In the three games he missed, the highest assist total from a single player was eight by Jaden Ivey in the win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
Cunningham’s 11 assists only give a glimpse of how his vision and passing boost the Pistons. At 6 foot 6, his ability to see over the defense coupled with his control of the offense creates opportunities that aren’t there otherwise. The crosscourt skip passes Cunningham makes, even those that didn’t lead to baskets, move the defense in a way that opens up opportunities.
He did enter Friday’s game averaging a career-high 4.6 turnovers per game and added six more against the Pacers. But turnovers are part of life as the primary ballhandler, and Cunningham’s next stage of development is ball security even while having to force the issue to maximize the attention he draws.
Nonetheless, his 11 assists accounted for 26 points scored by seven Pistons.
Ivey, who took charge of the primary ballhandling duties while Cunningham was out, was another beneficiary of Cunningham’s playmaking Friday. Rather than being the one to initiate offense and make plays for others, Ivey was free to focus more on scoring and let his assists come within the flow of the offense.
The Purdue product had seven turnovers to one assist in 18 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. But in Indiana, with Cunningham running the show, he finished with 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and three turnovers on 8-of-13 shooting.
And Thompson is the latest piece of that foundation, which is why Friday’s moment was significant. Cunningham highlighted the value of Thompson by going back to him even after two bad misses.
But on the third one, Thompson displayed the potential of these young Pistons. He stepped right into the corner 3 with purpose and before it even went through the net, Thompson began trotting toward the opposite end of the court knowing his shot was good. And of course, he pointed at Cunningham for good measure.
“The next one came to him,” Bickerstaff said, “and he got it back and knocked it down.
(Photo of Cade Cunningham: Pepper Robinson / NBAE via Getty Images)
