Cade Cunningham must figure out OG Anunoby for the Pistons to have any shot vs. the Knicks

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During his postseason debut, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham was held to an inefficient offensive performance with plenty of turnovers.

Cunningham, 23, was named a first-time All-Star and is a finalist for the 2025 NBA Most Improved Player. He helped Detroit make the postseason for the first time since 2019. But for the Pistons to win their first NBA postseason game since 2008, they need more from the former No. 1 overall pick.

He was held to just 21 points during the game, which was not enough for Detroit to secure a victory. His true shooting percentage was 45.3 percent in the match. The Pistons have just four wins and eleven losses when Cunningham has recorded a TS% of less than 46.0 percent this season, per Stathead.

The main reason for the inefficiency was a strong defensive performance by New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby.

While we predicted that Mikal Bridges would defend Cunningham (who instead primarily guarded Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris), it was actually Anunoby who got the assignment. Here is what Anunoby said about the decision (via USA TODAY):

“Just trying to make it as difficult as possible,” Anunoby told reporters after the game. “Make his catches difficult, pressure him, be aggressive and just try to force him into tough shots.”

Anunoby defended the former Oklahoma State standout for more than 45 possessions, per NBA.com. No one else on New York guarded Cunningham for even 10 possessions.

Cunningham scored just 5 points in these opportunities while the remaining came during switches or other primary defenders. Anunoby fouled Cunningham just once and recorded an impressive block against him.

According to Cunningham, it was more that the Knicks “sent bodies” at him more than anything else.

Cunningham will have a chance for a rebuttal in the second game of the series, but after New York’s comeback victory, he won’t have an easy time.

Nico Harrison continues to make blunders

While the Mavericks were eliminated from playoff contention during the play-in tournament, they continue to gain attention as one of the most interesting teams in the league every time executive Nico Harrison speaks.

The latest report from ESPN about Harrison’s decision to trade Luka Dončić feels particularly insightful. That includes firing Casey Smith, a longtime Dončić and Dirk Nowitzki advocate, as Smith was spending time with his dying mother:

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One newly reported tidbit from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon concerns Harrison’s all-around, obsessive pettiness with Dončić, especially in the latter stages of his Mavericks career. Way before Harrison ever seriously considered trading Doncic earlier this season, he was apparently fixated on purging people and elements within the Mavericks organization that he felt “enabled” Dončić.

One of those people was Casey Smith, the Mavericks’ former director of health and performance. Smith is credited as one of the folks who helped Dončić make a full-time transition into American culture as a native Slovenian, and someone the legendary Dirk Nowitzki, who has unsurprisingly loosened his ties to the Mavericks recently, has praised for having helped extend his iconic NBA career. But Harrison reportedly felt “threatened” by Smith’s influence inside the Mavericks’ halls (given his pull with Dončić).

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