Cade Cunningham shares a huge takeaway from surviving Magic

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Cade Cunningham shares a huge takeaway from surviving Magic

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Lorenzo J Reyna, ClutchPoints | Last updated May 3, 2026 8:16 PM ET

The Detroit Pistons dug deep to get out of a massive hole against the Orlando Magic. They end up in the NBA Playoffs history books with the Philadelphia 76ers in erasing a 3-1 series lead during round one. But this completed comeback prompted a huge takeaway from Cade Cunningham.

The Pistons star shared his blunt admission postgame with ABC after winning Game 7.

“We’ve grown a lot because of this series,” Cunningham said.

He felt the sigh of relief in shedding past a feisty Magic team that had Cunningham and the Pistons against the ropes.

“We’re ready to get to the second round and continue business,” Cunningham added.

"We've grown a lot because of this series. … We're ready to get to the second round and continue business."

Cade Cunningham has his eyes set on the ultimate goal pic.twitter.com/Fo1yYfn1bi

— ESPN (@espn) May 3, 2026

Cunningham added more honesty during his postgame presser with reporters. He clearly believes this series just made the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference stronger.

“We all are cut from the same cloth, as far as far as, we feel like we’ve overcome a lot to get to where we are right now. We bond over being dawgs and working through any situation,” Cunningham said.

The perennial NBA All-Star ignited a sold out Little Caesars Arena early. He stepped in front of Desmond Bane’s layup attempt and swatted the ball in front of him. Cunningham lobbed the alley-oop to Jalen Duren next after the block.

CADE CUNNINGHAM ON BOTH ENDS

Cade blocks Desmond Bane’s layup and tosses up the alley-oop to Jalen Duren for the JAM pic.twitter.com/nZX6QnAxyx

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 3, 2026

Cunningham piled 109 total points, which matched a previous postseason LeBron James mark. The 24-year-old now tasted a postseason series win for the first time in his career.

He arrived to the Motor City in 2021 as the top overall NBA Draft pick. His first three Piston teams never won more than 23 games. Including the infamous 14-68 one of 2023-24.

Now he’s sparked the renaissance of Pistons basketball. All after fighting back from a large deficit.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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