The Detroit Pistons just took home a season-saving Game 5 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. However, they only won because Cade Cunningham had a historic night. Though the Pistons kept their season alive, the win only confirmed the fact that Detroit needs to get Cunningham help if they want to be a serious title contender.
Without Cunningham’s monster night, the Pistons almost certainly would have lost the series. A five-game series defeat to the eighth-seeded Magic would have been a disaster. Losing the series at all will be a mess. Cunningham just doesn’t have enough offensive help.
Winning Game 5 was obviously crucial for the Pistons, but it still didn’t solve their biggest problem.
Pistons still need to fix offense alongside Cade Cunningham
In Game 5, Cunningham was the best player on the floor, and it wasn’t even close. Everything ran through him, and outside of him, few players on the Pistons’ roster put together complete offensive nights.
It was an incredible, season-saving performance, and it proved that Cunningham is one of the best players in the association. He should be leading the Pistons on title runs for years to come.
Cunningham finished Game 5 with 45 points, four rebounds, five assists, and one steal. He shot 13-of-23 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc.
In the process, Cunningham set a franchise record for the most points ever scored in a playoff game. And his second leading scorer in the win? Tobias Harris.
Harris finished the game with 23 points. Jalen Duren had 12. Duncan Robinson had 12. Nobody else on the team ended the night with double digits in the scoring column.
Cunningham’s efficient performance was an outlier for the Pistons. Outside of him, the Pistons shot just 5-of-20 from behind the three-point line (25.0%).
The Pistons can’t depend on Cunningham breaking the franchise record in points every single night in order to win basketball games. He’s an MVP-caliber guy. He’s not a superhero.
Detroit still needs to find offensive help for Cunningham, and Game 5 will only delay their eventual need to solve the issue. An issue that the Pistons have to solve if they want to win a title with Cunningham at the helm.
For now, the Pistons are alive. Cunningham’s performance in Game 5 means that they will live to see another day. They live to see a Game 6, though they will have to win on the road in Orlando, where they are 0-2 in the postseason so far.
But regardless of Game 5, and regardless of the outcome of this series, the Pistons have to fix their offensive problems alongside Cunningham.