Pistons Coach Speaks on Cade Cunningham’s Playoff Debut vs Knicks

JB Bickerstaff reacted to Cade Cunningham's NBA Playoff debut against the Knicks.

Apr 19, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) reacts after scoring against the New York Knicks in Game One of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Saturday night’s Game 1 matchup between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks marked the first postseason matchup for most of the visiting team’s roster. That includes the former No. 1 overall pick, Cade Cunningham.

As Cunningham established himself as a first-time NBA All-Star this season, his first set of postseason action had a lot of hype surrounding it.

How well did he handle the moment in the eyes of his head coach, JB Bickerstaff? The All-Star was simply good.

“I thought he got to his spots,” Bickerstaff told reporters after the game.

Bickerstaff on Cade Cunningham’s debut:

“Cade was good, he got to his spots. OG is a good defender, but Cade means more to us than just his final point tally. … We can improve on the turnovers and those types of things, but I thought he had a good night for us.” pic.twitter.com/9gM4P6Eh7u

— Hunter Patterson (@HuntPatterson_) April 20, 2025

“OG [Anunoby] is a good defender, but Cade means more to us than just the final point tally. You look at his assist numbers and how he created for everybody else. How he rebounds the basketball and all of those types of things. I thought Cade was good. Obviously, we can improve on the turnovers and those types of things, but I thought he had a good night for us.”

Going into the game, the Pistons knew the Knicks were going to put an emphasis on disrupting Cunningham’s flow, since the guard is a triple-double threat. New York didn’t shut down Cunningham, but it was clear they did enough to keep him in check.

From the field, Cunningham shot 8-21. He scored 21 points in 39 minutes of action. While he dished out 12 assists to secure the double-double, he also turned the ball over for a game-high six turnovers. The Knicks dominated the Pistons in the turnover department as Detroit coughed up the ball 10 more times throughout the matchup.

It wasn’t Cunningham’s sharpest night, but the Pistons still managed to control Game 1 for most of the outing. Unfortunately for them, a fourth-quarter collapse led to a 123-112 loss. The Pistons might be satisfied with Cunningham’s game as a debut—but they’ll need more for Game 2.