Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey Shine In Win Over Cleveland

Pistons rookie Cade Cunningham recorded his second career triple double in a big win over the Cleveland Cavaliers going for 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Cunningham got off to a slow start but ramped it up down the stretch and hit two huge three pointers late in the fourth quarter to send the Cavs home with a loss. In fact, Cunningham was sitting on a goose egg at halftime but poured in 19 big points after the break to lead Detroit to a win.

"He has it," head coach Dwane Casey said of Cunningham. "He's a special kid. He's got a lot to learn. He's got a lot of different defenses to see. He was going against some elite defenders and that takes an adjustment. He made an adjustment. He's just got that gene."

Per the Pistons, Cade Cunningham is the 12th player in NBA history to have two triple-doubles through his first 40 career games. The No. 1 overall pick appears to be well on his way to rookie of the year honors.

Saddiq Bey also showed up in a big way pouring in 31 points. The versatile wingman only made three long balls but he was efficient from the floor overall going 11-for-20 and was also a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. With Cunningham doing it all and Saddiq scoring 30+, the Pistons can be hard to handle.

Role players Trey Lyles and Frank Jackson stepped up in big ways too. The bench duo went for 15 and 19 points respectively and battled with Cade down the stretch giving Detroit enough offense to pull away from Cleveland late. Jackson knocked down three deep balls and Lyles added seven rebounds in under 20 minutes of action.

It's going to be really interesting to see how Detroit looks when Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk return to the lineup as both have started to condition in order to get back on the floor. The Pistons are now 7-9 in 2022, which isn't a great mark, but it's an improvement over everything we saw before the new year. Wins over Milwaukee, Utah, Toronto and now Cleveland are included in that record, which should give the young Pistons a little bit of confidence heading into the final 2+ months of the season.

Detroit will be at home again on Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans, who are certainly beatable at 18-31.