Cade Cunningham’s career-high exhibition couldn’t prevent Pistons from losing 24th-straight game

By this point, it almost seems inevitable. The Pistons lost their 24th-consecutive match this Monday against the Hawks despite Cade Cunningham‘s career-high performance. The first overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft dropped 43 points in last night’s game, but wasn’t able to prevent his team from another defeat. 

Detroit is now 2-25 on the campaign and sitting alone at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The rising star had previously reacted with frustration after his squad lost by four points to the Philadelphia 76ers this weekend, and tried his best to lead the team against Atlanta.

The former Oklahoma State athlete played 44 minutes of play and impressed his own coach despite losing 130 to 124. “He’s just growing,” Monty Williams said postgame. “As much as he had the ball tonight, he had just three turnovers. I’ve had young guards before and try to get them to understand, when you’re getting blitzed like that, you’re going to have to sacrifice your shot.”

Career-high for @CadeCunningham_ tonight pic.twitter.com/Rc78RiVk06

— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 19, 2023

The Pistons, who have now lost six-straight contests to the Hawks, saw Bojan Bogdanovic finally return from his recent injury and contributed with 25 points. Cade added 7 rebounds and 5 assists to his impressive stat line.

“His leadership, I told him, we texted a little bit yesterday and I told him today, it’s tremendous. Watching his leadership during which will probably be the toughest time in his career. I couldn’t be more proud of how he’s talked to the group, had a great spirit every single day. He shows the pain of losing but, at the same time, he’s been the glue for us,” said the Detroit coach.

The Michigan franchise is closing by on the record for most-consecutive defeats, which is currently held by the Cavaliers and Sixers, who each lost 26 contests in a row. Cunningham admits there are doing everything in their power to change this course before it becomes a colossal failure.

“We all hate where it’s gotten,” he revealed. “We can’t believe that it’s gotten to this point. But it is what it is. We gotta fight through it. That’s one of the main things that I’ve been trying to challenge myself with, is fight through it every day, through bumps, bruises.”

Cunningham doesn’t shy away from his responsibility of failing to lead the Pistons to their third-win of the season

Despite his impressive form, the third-year player knows he owns part of the responsibility for being unable to carry the squad to victory.

“For everybody, we just need all hands on board,” Cade said. “I’ve been trying to personally take that on and just weather the storm. It’s hard, but I don’t want to hide from it. There’s nowhere to hide.”

The franchise player still appreciates being able to play in the NBA, as he recalled how miserable it felt to watch the games from the sidelines last season, after he played just 12 games before undergoing shin surgery and missing out.

“Missing those games, I was in a way more dark spot than I am right now, playing and being able to do this,” he shared. “I’m having a lot of fun. Losing the games is the worst thing ever, I hate it more than anything. But every day, in warmups, I’m like, ‘I’m blessed to do this. I have another opportunity to play and try to win.’ That’s where it comes from, is just being healthy and being able to play.”