The Detroit Pistons looked to be in command towards the end of Game 5, as they held a nine-point lead with exactly three minutes remaining in the contest, 103-94. With the Cleveland Cavaliers yet to win a single game on the road in this year's playoffs, the Pistons could scarcely have been in a more favorable spot. However, the wheels fell off for the Pistons in crunch time, as they conceded a 9-0 run to end the game as the Cavs forced overtime en route to a 117-113 Game 5 win to take a 3-2 series lead.
Cade Cunningham did his best, as he put up 39 points to lead the way for the Pistons once more. But in overtime, Cunningham no longer had enough juice, as the Pistons fell short in the battle of attrition. But Cunningham is hardly to blame for the Pistons being on the losing end, as it did look as though his efforts were enough to give Detroit the victory.
Nevertheless, Cunningham, being the leader of this Pistons squad, is not even thinking about blaming his teammates for coming up short on Wednesday night.
“It’s about exploiting whatever they’re doing that’s giving us advantages. … I just haven’t done a good enough job of drawing the two and then getting the ball to guys cleanly,” Cunningham said in his postgame presser, via Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
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Asked Cade Cunningham about the challenge of generating quality offense outside of him:
“It’s about exploiting whatever they’re doing that’s giving us advantages. … I just haven’t done a good enough job of drawing the two and then getting the ball to guys cleanly.” pic.twitter.com/UyFXhnfExv
— Hunter Patterson (@HunterPatterson) May 14, 2026
Cunningham is simply being a true leader, but at some point, there is only so much a superstar player can do for his team. Perhaps the Pistons star didn't do his best in drawing the attention of the Cavs defense, but even then, towards the end of regulation, it's not like Detroit didn't have clean looks.
It is understandable, however, for Cunningham to hold himself to a lofty standard. At the end of the day, he is the best player of this Pistons team and he is responsible for taking them as far as he could.
The Detroit Pistons looked to be in command towards the end of Game 5, as they held a nine-point lead with exactly three minutes remaining in the contest, 103-94. With the Cleveland Cavaliers yet to win a single game on the road in this year's playoffs, the Pistons could scarcely have been in a more favorable spot.