Cade Cunningham put up a career-high 52 points Thursday night, and the Detroit Pistons needed every one of them to outlast the Washington Wizards 144-140 in double overtime at Capital One Arena, as first reported by ClutchPoints.
The line was surgical: 52 points on 16-of-25 shooting, 3-of-5 from deep, 17-of-18 at the stripe, plus five rebounds and 11 assists. And zero turnovers. According to OptaSTATS, he is the only player with 50-plus points, 10-plus assists and no turnovers in a game since the league started officially tracking turnovers in 1977-78.
The IAHHM Take
Fifty is loud. Fifty with zero turnovers is grown. That stat tells you everything about how in control Cade was, even with Trae Young, AJ Dybantsa, Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly all taking turns on him.
The game had no business going two overtimes. Trae forced the first OT with a Hail Mary three at the end of regulation, the kind of shot that usually breaks a road team. Instead, Cade scored 12 of his points across the two extra periods, including the insurance bucket with 25.3 seconds left.
He also had help. Ausar Thompson posted a triple-double (17 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists), Daniss Jenkins added 21 and Duncan Robinson chipped in 13. Detroit is now 8-3, while Washington drops to 4-9.
Here’s the funny part: Cade’s old career high was 46, also against the Wizards. At 25, the two-time All-NBA guard is putting up nights that belong in the same conversation as the best guards in the league, the same way Jayson Tatum reminded everybody who he is earlier this week.
So be honest: is Cade a top-five guard in the league right now, or are we still waiting on a playoff run before we say it out loud?
Source: ClutchPoints
