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Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham is introduced during home opener

Cade Cunningham is introduced to the LCA crowd for the 2025-26 NBA season as the Pistons play their home opener against the Boston Celtics.

Cade Cunningham dominated, and the Detroit Pistons erased an early deficit for their third win.

Cunningham had his best game of the season on both ends — 30 points, 10 assists, three blocks and three steals — to lead the Pistons to a 135-116 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The Pistons (3-2) trailed by 10 points in the first half, but used a late run in the second quarter to take the lead before halftime, 65-64.

Tobias Harris added 23 points and two steals, and Jalen Duren also had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Duncan Robinson (15 points, 4-for-6 from 3) and Ausar Thompson (12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists) also reached double figures. Paolo Banchero led the Magic (1-4) with 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Next up, the Pistons head to Mexico City to face the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday (10 p.m., Peacock).

Cade Cunningham has solo block party, takes over

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It was a two-way masterclass by Cunningham, who did his part to shut down Orlando’s starting guard duo while giving them the business on the other end. Cade’s defensive play powered a mostly-dominant Pistons third quarter, with two highlight blocks on Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane that led to points on the other end. 

For the first one, he swatted Bane from behind after lurking in the paint and completed a coast-to-coast layup. The next block was a straight-up stuff on a poster attempt by Suggs in transition. Harris tracked down the rebound and Cunningham found Robinson with a hit-ahead for an open 3. 

His performance went beyond blocks — he got a steal early in the first quarter and saved the ball from going out of bounds before finding Thompson with a long pass for a dunk. It was a tone-setting play after the Pistons fell behind by nine points before the first timeout. 

A dominant offensive stretch by Cunningham in the second half helped the Pistons turn a close game into a blowout. Orlando couldn’t keep him out of the paint in the third quarter — he went right through Wendell Carter Jr. for a layup through contact and finished back-to-back three-point plays to extend their lead to 16, 98-82, with 2:32 remaining in the quarter. 

He continued his onslaught in the fourth. After the Magic got within eight points with a late run at the end of the third, Cunningham led a 16-3 Pistons run that extended their lead to 20, 117-97, with 8:57 to play in the game. The run included seven straight points from Cunningham — a post hook over Suggs, a coast-to-coast layup for a three-point play and a half-spin past his defender into a right-handed layup. 

Pistons overcome cold start (again)

In three of the Pistons’ five games thus far, they’ve taken nearly a full quarter to get their offense going. They trailed the Chicago Bulls in their opener last week by 23 points in the second quarter before rallying in a 115-111 loss. And the Boston Celtics opened Sunday’s game with a 31-14 lead, which the Pistons eliminated by halftime en route to a 119-113 win. 

They also trailed the Magic by double digits, falling behind 46-36 in the second quarter before closing the period with a 29-18 run. The Pistons missed nine of their first 10 shots before they got hot, making 17 of their next 33 attempts (52%) to cut the deficit to one before taking the lead just before halftime, 65-64. They proceeded to win the third quarter, 36-28, and the fourth quarter, 34-24.

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