Cade Cunningham impresses LeBron James in Pistons’ win over Lakers: ‘They got a great win’

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cade Cunningham sized up Austin Reaves with about 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, hoping to close the door on the Los Angeles Lakers in the same way he slammed the door on the Phoenix Suns two days earlier. This time, Cunningham’s 3-point attempt on the opposite side of the court from the one he fired over Kevin Durant went miserably wide.

An Anthony Davis screen on the ensuing play freed LeBron James from Cunningham, who was guarding James for much of the evening, but James’ deep 3-point attempt bounced off the front edge and also missed. The Detroit Pistons walked away with a 117-114 victory, recording four wins in their last six games and improving to 13-17.

The highlight of the night for Cunningham came earlier against Reaves and James. Cunningham caught a pass from Jalen Duren in transition, allowed Reaves to make an in-and-out play behind the back and completed a tough right-handed layup off the glass over James at the rim.

More importantly, the Pistons will have the opportunity to defeat the Sacramento Kings on Thursday and win their 14th game, matching their win total from last season in just 31 games. Detroit, now 2-0 on its four-game vacation trip to the West Coast, can also use this win as a springboard to further success.

In their last two wins, the Pistons averaged 62 points in the second half on 52.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range while turning the ball over seven times. They attached those numbers to two teams that entered their meetings against Detroit with winning records.

The Pistons are still working toward .500, but every win is viewed internally as a necessary building block to achieve the success the organization hopes for.

“We’re looking at this season step by step,” Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We will not miss any steps. You will be graded based on your progress. If you look back at the beginning of the year, some of the close games we had, game (number) 30 tonight and how we were able to stay on track and pull out a tough game like this on the road against someone as tough as this Very good team that played well.

“We have taken steps in the right direction and now we need to continue to build on them.”

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Cade Cunningham Says Kevin Durant’s Praise for His Play ‘Validates My Work’

It also helps if you have an Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time. Cunningham finished the game with 20 points, a team-high 10 assists, five rebounds and one steal. But he earned recognition for averaging 27 points on 49.2 percent shooting and 40.9 percent shooting from 3, 12.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and one steal per game from December 16-22. He also led the Pistons to a 2-1 record with wins over the Miami Heat and Suns.

On Saturday night in Phoenix, Durant praised the 23-year-old guard, saying this was Cunningham’s “year to be an All-Star, to hit the ground running and get to the next level.”

On Monday night in Los Angeles, James praised Cunningham after suffering a loss to the young man who was born just two years before James was drafted.

“He’s just too big,” James said of Cunningham. “He has broad shoulders, big legs and knows exactly what he is doing. And he does it. Solid player. Very, very solid. He’s gotten better and better and the best thing about this year in my opinion is that he’s healthy. He was number 1, right? There’s a reason for that. You got a great specimen.”

While Cunningham understands his worth and is grateful for the love of the players he valued as a child, he often credits his teammates for his success this season.

Malik Beasley helped boost Cunningham’s spirits Monday, finishing with 21 points on a game-high 5-of-10 shooting from long range to go with five rebounds and no turnovers. Beasley is now tied with Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Anthony Edwards for most 3s made (116) in the NBA this season. He also benefited from two of Cunningham’s 10 assists on Monday.

The Florida State product has hit multiple triples in 25 of his 30 games this season. In December, Beasley made at least five three-pointers in six of Detroit’s eight games. In last week’s loss to the Utah Jazz, he made a career-best 19 3-point attempts, seven in total.

“I put in a lot of work, but I think the biggest credit goes to my teammates,” Beasley said. “In that game I shot 19 3s, after the 14th 3 they said, ‘Keep shooting, keep shooting.’ We need you.” And the support of your teammates is huge. I just have to keep doing my job, keep making shots at a high rate and at a good rate and keep trusting the work.”

Beasley’s 16.4 points per game is on pace to be his highest-scoring season since 2020-21, when he played with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s also on pace to match his career high from last season with the Milwaukee Bucks when it comes to 3-point shooting at 41.3 percent – only this time he’s also on track with 9.3 attempts per game , reaching his career high. Beasley offers the spacing as a 3-point threat that Cunningham has needed throughout his career.

The back half of Detroit’s trip begins in Sacramento against the Kings before ending in Denver against the Nuggets. Both are strong opponents that will give the Pistons great opportunities to show how serious they are about maintaining this level of play.

2-0 on the trip so far? The Eastern Conference Player of the Week wants more!#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/OGSuuOh5Hp

— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) December 24, 2024

“We feel good,” Cunningham said on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit. “The work is not done yet, we want to end the year successfully. Two more games on this road trip and a lot of work to do.”

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(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)