Cade Cunningham did not want his season to end on a Wednesday night in Detroit. So he scored more points than any Piston ever has in a playoff game and dared the Orlando Magic to keep up.
Cunningham finished with 45 points to set a Pistons franchise playoff record, traded blow-for-blow with Paolo Banchero, and dragged Detroit to a Game 5 win that pushes the first-round series back to Orlando for Game 6. Both stars finished with 45, the first time two players had hit that mark in the same playoff game since Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray did it in 2020.
For Cunningham, six weeks removed from a calf injury and playing 44 minutes as the focal point of Orlando's defence, the night came down to a single phrase he kept returning to.
"Just a never die mentality," Cunningham said. "I just wanted to have a controlled aggression all night. I don't want this season to end right now. So got to put it all on the line."
The controlled aggression part mattered. Detroit had spent the last two games stuck in its own head, and Cunningham said the difference in Game 5 was a Pistons team that finally stopped trying to engineer the perfect possession.
"It was just more flying around," he said. "We played freer today. It wasn't as much of the tightness that we had played with some of the past games of the series. We played free. Obviously there's a lot on the line. So everybody was locked in and putting everything out there, but I thought there was still a freeness to us that allowed us to make shots and execute, and not think so much."
The fourth quarter was where Cunningham dropped the ball-share calculus he normally lives by. Asked whether he ever has to fight his playmaking instincts in moments that big, he conceded he does.
"That's definitely the balance you have to find with my position, my job, and with the skill set that I have," Cunningham said. "I know that I can get us points by me scoring, but also making sure that my team, I'm using my playmaking ability to get everybody going and just make the right play. Sometimes, in the fourth quarter, the ball has to be in my hands a little more. It's just about having that feel for the game and finding that balance."
He also leaned heavily on Ausar Thompson, who finished with 15 rebounds, five steals and two blocks while drawing the defensive assignment that mattered.
"He was great," Cunningham said. "He's a great player and that's what we need from him. Him imposing himself on the series and imposing himself on the game like he did. He's shown that he's beyond capable of that. So we needed it tonight."
The broader Pistons message coming out of Game 5 is one of stubbornness rather than swagger. Detroit dug a 3-1 hole earlier in the series and has done little to suggest it's the more complete team. But Cunningham, asked how far the back-against-the-wall mentality can carry a young roster, refused to look more than one game ahead.
"We all felt it. You have to feel it," Cunningham said. "We've had a great season so far. None of us want it to end. So you got to put it all out there. We dug ourselves a hole, like I said. Now it's time to climb our way out. It's possible. We handle our business tonight. We got to go to Orlando and handle our business there."
Game 6 is in Orlando on Friday. Banchero will be waiting.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/cade-cunningham-45-points-pistons-magic-game-5-banchero-duel-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
