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Cade Cunningham Speaks on Emotions After Jaden Ivey’s Injury Scare

Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham reacted to Jaden Ivey's injury after the win over the Magic.
Justin Grasso|
Dec 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (23) and guard Cade Cunningham (2) celebrate after the win against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Dec 26, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (23) and guard Cade Cunningham (2) celebrate after the win against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

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Detroit PistonsOrlando Magic

The Detroit Pistons lost a key player to an injury on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic.

During the fourth quarter of the game, Cade Cunningham and the Pistons saw the veteran guard Jaden Ivey go down with an apparent leg injury as Orlando’s Cole Anthony went to make a play on the ball.

While the injury was an accident, it was still an unfortunate scenario for the young emerging star out of Detroit, who was having himself an excellent performance to go with his career year.

“It’s tough on the whole group,” said Cade Cunningham after the game. “To see him hurting like that is tough on us, you know what I’m saying?”

Ivey couldn’t leave the court on his own power. Detroit’s medical staff had to wrap his leg before Ivey was rolled back through the tunnel on a stretcher.

“He’s built for it. He’s going to shake back. Knowing him, he’s gonna work his tail off, and he’s gonna be better than ever when he gets back. It’s hard to see that, for sure,” Cunningham added.

Ivey left the game after spending 26 minutes on the court. He was leading the way for Detroit, scoring 22 points on 8-11 shooting from the field and 5-6 shooting from three. Although Ivey helped the Pistons gain a comfortable lead on Wednesday, as they led by as many as 18 points, the Magic were rallying for a comeback before Ivey went out.

The Pistons had to refocus themselves after the emotional series of events in order to lock back in and prevent a comeback for the Magic.

“Definitely, I mean, there were emotions with it where we hate to see our brother go down like that,” Cunningham added. “At the same time, we want to go win the game for him. So, it’s easy to lock back in and say we’re going to go get this dub for him. Orlando is a good team, they made a couple of pushes at us, they got back in the game a few times, but we just stuck it out.”

The Pistons defeated the Magic 105-96. Cunningham came second to Ivey in the scoring department with a 19-point showing. He also had nine assists and eight rebounds. With that win, the Pistons improved to 15-18 on the year. Now, they are focused on what’s next for Ivey.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia

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