The Detroit Pistons fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday in part because of a series of late Cade Cunningham turnovers, which has been a familiar refrain throughout the playoffs.
Cunningham committed three turnovers in the final three minutes of Saturday’s 116-109 loss to Cleveland at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Oh. He had eight turnovers overall, and his 58 total turnovers lead all players in the playoffs.
After the game, Cunningham refused to say his turnovers were careless, but were simply the result of poor decisions.
“We did our job getting back into the game. Fourth quarter, turnovers, they had a couple of opportunities out in transition. A couple bad ones,” Cunningham said. “Just careless turnovers. I wouldn’t even say careless, I care about it a lot. But just bad plays where we could’ve gotten shots on rim.”
Cade: “We did our job getting back into the game. Fourth quarter, turnovers, they had a couple of opportunities out in transition. A couple bad ones … just careless turnovers. I wouldn’t even say careless, I care about it a lot. But just bad plays.” pic.twitter.com/yNtSedU674
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) May 9, 2026
Cunningham’s turnovers came in a span of roughly 45 seconds and led to four Cleveland points in what had initially been a tie game. He also struggled with the issue at times in the first round against Orlando, which was one of many issues the Pistons had in that series before rallying from 3-1 down.
Cunningham only had nine turnovers combined in the first two games, which Detroit won. He will have to get back to that for the Pistons to get back on track in the series.
