The Detroit Pistons secured a season sweep over the New York Knicks thanks to another dominant Cade Cunningham performance on Thursday night
In the modern NBA, the word superstar may seem like a nebulous term to describe a moving target, but it seems as if Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham is zeroing in on its proximity.
On Thursday night, Cunningham led a shorthanded yet first place Pistons squad into another tough, physical battle against the New York Knicks at one of America’s sporting meccas, Madison Square Garden. Without Jalen Duren or Isaiah Stewart available due to suspension, Cunningham single-handedly picked up the scoring slack without sacrificing any playmaking responsibilities en route to another double-digit victory over a familiar postseason foe.
Despite the clear adversity, Cunningham scored 42 points while dishing out 13 assists and securing eight rebounds in a decisive 126-111 victory over the Knicks in their own building. In doing so, the Pistons secured a season sweep over the Knicks with an average margin of victory just under 30 points.
Depending on whichever version of the term superstar is en vogue at the moment, Cunningham is playing like an All-Star who is deserving of that distinction.
“He’s a superstar, and there’s no doubt about it,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “It’s hard for me to think of five guys in this league that do more on both ends than he does. Like I said, he guards other team’s best perimeter players on any given night. Offensively, the ball is in his hands. His usage rate is through the roof. He never says no. He never complains. He goes out and he gets the job done, and it’s impacted winning. And I think that’s what superstars do, right? Superstars aren’t hollow numbers. Superstars are people that impact winning at a level that he has.”
Through 54 games, the fifth-year floor general has the Pistons at 41-13 on the 2025-26 campaign. Detroit has stood in the driver’s seat of the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season, and Cunningham’s ability to approach each step the right way through the team’s ascension is what makes the 24-year old a true superstar in his coach’s eyes.
“The thing I’m most impressed with is how consistent he is as a human through it all and how consistent he is as a teammate through it all,” Bickerstaff said. “He just does the right thing by his teammates over and over again to help them excel and succeed also. So if you’ve got a superstar player with talent, superstar character, he’s the guy who goes down in the Hall of Fame someday, and Cade is playing at that level.”
After 20 years in the NBA, Bickerstaff has coached and coached against his fair share of superstars, so that assessment sheds light on Cunningham’s All-Pro demeanor. And if Cade needed a singular performance to formally enter his name into the MVP race, Thursday’s 42-point outburst against the Knicks might be it.
With so many stars across the league missing significant time due to either injury or load management, Cunningham has played in 47 of the Pistons’ 54 games this season. Cunningham is well on track to meet the NBA’s 65-game threshold for end-of-season awards.
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