MIAMI — (AP) — Cade Cunningham insisted he called bank.
“I might have whispered it,” he said. “I don't think anybody heard that, though.”
Doesn't matter. They saw it. Everybody saw it. And the entire NBA is seeing the Detroit Pistons — last season's league laughingstocks, losers of 28 straight during one stretch — not only looking like a sure-fire playoff team but one with a real shot at home-court advantage in the first round.
Cunningham's banked-in 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left was the difference in the Pistons' 116-113 win over the reeling Miami Heat on Wednesday night. Cunningham got the shot off with Miami's Bam Adebayo — the Heat's best defensive player — having a hand right in his face.
“Any closer,” Adebayo said afterward, “and I'd have fouled him.”
It capped a 25-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist masterpiece for Cunningham, an All-Star for the first time this season and someone who is almost certainly going to end up on some All-NBA ballots next month. He's now played in 65 games, a career high and one that gets him across the NBA threshold for end-of-season award consideration.
He's 10th in the league in scoring at 25.6 points per game, third in assists at 9.3 per game, tied for third in triple-doubles with nine and is the biggest reason why Detroit — now 39-31 — is right there with No. 4 Indiana (39-29) and No. 5 Milwaukee (38-30) for a top-four spot in the Eastern Conference.
“That was awesome,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after Wednesday's win.
He was talking about the game. He could have meant Cunningham's shot as well.
“Just get him the ball and get out of the way,” Bickerstaff said. “You try to get the ball in his hands, occupy the guys around him, and you know that Cade's going to be able to get his shot off. He's got the size. He's got the skill. He knows he's going to get his look. We told him to go win the game and he went and got it done.”
Wednesday's shot was very similar to another potential game-winner Cunningham had in Miami on opening night of the 2023-24 season — Pistons rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit, straightaway 3-pointer in the final second, and it missed. Detroit won its next two games to improve to 2-1, then lost its next 28.
This time, the shot went in. All that losing is a thing of the past in Detroit.
“As soon as Coach walked up with the play, I already knew what he was running," Cunningham said. “I appreciate that kind of trust.”
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