Detroit legend Isiah Thomas was recently on a radio show and spoke on the Pistons’ historic Game 2 win. He talked about how impressive a win it was despite them missing a key player. As well as how pivotal Cade Cunningham’s performance was. All and all, Thomas seems to be happy that his Pistons are back to playing the style of “Bad Boys” basketball that his team popularized in the 80s.
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Game 2 against the New York Knicks was nothing short of an incredible win for the Pistons. Despite missing Isaiah Stewart to right knee inflammation, Detroit gritted out a 100-94 victory in Madison Square Garden. It was their first playoff victory since 2008.
Additionally, Cade Cunningham played great. He had 33 points to go along with 12 rebounds and two steals. It was somewhat of a coming-out party for the fourth-year guard. And Isiah Thomas wanted to ensure he received his flowers for the performance.
“We saw a player that understood the game that he was playing,” Thomas said. “Understood the opponent that he was playing against, and where that opponent’s weakness was, that allowed him to exploit it.”
Detroit won their first playoff game since Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals last night against the Knicks!
🔊 #Pistons Legend Isiah Thomas reacts to Cade Cunningham's big night with @WorldWideWob & @adaniels33 #DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/noPjL69gmE
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) April 22, 2025
It was high praise coming from the Hall of Famer. Thomas went on to say that Cade is getting to the point where he can recognize when to give the ball up to teammates to allow them to exploit a weakness in the defense. Some may call this deferring, but Thomas thinks it shows how smart Cade has become.
Isiah Thomas has been impressed with Cade Cunningham
Last season, the Pistons had just 14 wins. It was down from their previous season of 17 wins. The last time they were in the playoffs was 2019. To say they have been struggling as a franchise as of late would be an understatement.
But this season, the Pistons won 44 games and secured a playoff berth behind a young roster and new head coach JB Bickerstaff. This has understandably made Thomas excited about his former team’s new direction.
“They finally found their way back home,” Thomas said last month. “To Piston Bad Boy culture. Defense, rebounding, and playing physical. That’s who Detroit is, that’s who the city likes to see. Hey, if you wanna shoot 50 threes, go live in Boston. If you want defense, hard work, rebounding, and championship pedigree, come to Detroit.”
Thomas seems pumped that the Pistons are playing in the style that his old teams popularized. In the regular season, Detroit was in the top half of the league in rebounds per game, blocks per game, and opposing field goal percentage.
But at the end of the day, it’s just one win. Now the real work begins for Cade and the Pistons. The Knicks have been here before, and they haven’t. They need to seize the momentum of the series right now and capitalize with a win at home in game 3.
