Cade Cunningham Speaks on Pistons Mindset to Close Regular season

Pistons star focused on long-term improvement with team.

While it hasn't always translated to wins, the Detroit Pistons have been far more competitive after the All-Star break compared to before. Following another nail-biting loss, Cade Cunningham opened up on the long-term focus of the group. 

On Tuesday night, the Pistons traveled to Miami to take on the red-hot Heat. Things went down to the wire, but Jimmy Butler and company still managed to walk away with a win. Despite strong performances from multiple Pistons' players, they suffered a 118-110 defeat. 

After the game, Cunningham was asked about walking out of this loss with some pride. The Pistons star responded by saying the whole team has embraced the mindset of getting better each and every day. 

"This year reshaped my thinking about it. I work on perfecting my craft at this point," Cunningham said. "I think that’s where we’re all at, we’re trying to get better every day because we know that’ll give us the result we want."

Cunningham has played well since the All-Star break, and he kept that up against the Heat. He finished the game with a team-high 23 points to go along with four rebounds and eight assists. 

At this point in the year, a team like the Pistons has every reason to mail it in. Reaching the playoffs is out of sight, which could lead to a negative mindset of these games feeling unimportant. However, that doesn't seem to be the case here. 

In this last month and change of the season, Detroit still appears locked in on a nightly basis. Cunningham and the rest of the young core seemed determined to end the year on a good note and carry that momentum into next year.