Cade Cunningham is likely on his way to an All-NBA selection and has a case as a top-five MVP finisher, and he further strengthened his case for both on Wednesday by banking in the game-winning 3 with less than a second to play to give the Pistons a 116-113 over the Heat.
First, Cunningham had to hit a 3 to put the Pistons up two with less than a minute to play, then, after a couple of Tyler Herro free throws, he worked his magic from the top of the key to seal the deal.
Cunningham finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks and a steal for his ninth triple-double of the season. The win was a big one for the Pistons, who have now won two straight against two tanking teams — whether by design or not — in New Orleans and Miami to get back on track after losing four of six.
Combined with Milwaukee’s loss at Golden State on Tuesday, the Pistons (39-31), who have all but locked up a top-six seed, are just one game behind the Bucks (38-30) in the loss column for the No. 5 seed in the East with 12 games to play.
Oh and by the way, Detroit closes its season with consecutive games against Milwaukee. Even though Cleveland has been incredible this season and might very well be the best team in the league, you have to think the Bucks and Pistons would both prefer to be at least the No. 5 seed to steer clear of Boston through the first two rounds — or at least to face Indiana rather than New York in the first round.
Heat’s longest losing streak under coach Erik Spoelstra has given Miami a difficult draft dilemma
Jack Maloney
Of course, both teams are still aiming higher for a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first round. As that goes, the Pistons trail the Pacers by two games in the loss column, but that deficit is effectively three as the Pacers have sealed the tiebreaker via a 3-1 head-to-head advantage.
On the other side, the Heat continue to fade fast as Wednesday night’s result was their ninth consecutive loss. When that losing streak reached eight on Monday, it marked the longest losing streak of the Erik Spoelstra era, which dates back to 2008. Now 29-40, Miami is 4-16 since the Jimmy Butler trade. Only the openly tanking 76ers and Jazz have been worse in that stretch.
At 10th in the East, the Heat are still five games ahead of the Raptors for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament. Their 2025 first-round pick belongs to the Thunder, but is protected 1-14 this year before becoming unprotected in 2026.
