Cade Cunningham picked the worst possible night to vanish. The Detroit Pistons star spent four months building an MVP case, earning All-Star nods, and putting up the kind of regular-season numbers that made him a face of the league. Then Game 7 happened, and he disappeared.
Cunningham had 12 points at halftime of Sunday’s Eastern Conference Semifinals decider against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pistons trailed 64-47 at the break and needed their All-NBA guard to drag them back into the game. He went 0-of-6 from the field in the second half.
His only point after halftime came from a free throw after Cavaliers forward Max Strus picked up a technical. That was it. Zero field goals in 24 minutes of basketball with a season on the line, in front of his home crowd, on the league’s biggest stage outside of the Finals.
Social Media Had No Mercy
Fans tore into Cunningham on X in real time and they kept going after the 124-95 final. The piling on was relentless.
“Cade Cunningham is going to have an excellent career. Had one hell of a season,” wrote one user. “It is unacceptable to have zero points in the second half of a game seven.”
Another fan pointed out that Cunningham finished with 13 points on the night and a worst-on-the-court minus-32 plus-minus while going 0-of-7 from three. The word “overrated” was getting thrown around by people who had been calling him a top-five player two weeks ago.
Cunningham did not duck the moment afterward. “That game sucked,” he told reporters at his final press conference. “Being back home, definitely wanted to get this win in front of the fans. Reminded me of last year, losing on home court. It’s not a great feeling.”
Then came a quote that should worry every Pistons fan. “I hadn’t been thinking about the offseason. So my mind’s been racing now, trying to figure out what I’ve got to do, what it’s going to look like.”
Regular Season vs. Playoff Cade
This is the conversation Cunningham now has to deal with all summer. His 2025-26 numbers were dazzling. He averaged 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 9.9 assists, made another All-Star team, picked up a handful of MVP votes, and is a near-lock for another All-NBA selection.
None of that matters when you score one point in the second half of a Game 7 at home as the No. 1 seed. Cunningham is now 0-for-2 in elimination home games over the last two postseasons. That is a pattern, not a coincidence.
What Comes Next
Detroit’s offseason just got more complicated. The Pistons need to figure out whether their roster around Cunningham is good enough or whether his game is built to carry a contender in the first place. He turns 25 in September. The window to figure that out is open, but it is not infinite.
The best players in the league shrink the moment, not their game. Cunningham did the opposite Sunday. He has the talent to make sure that label does not stick. He just spent six months proving it can. Then he wasted that goodwill in three hours.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
