DET 126, MEM 110: Cade Cunningham Paces Fantasy With 64 ESPN FP
Tyler Okonkwo
Student & Retail Associate ยท Houston Rockets fan
Pistons Punched Their Ticket, but the Grizzlies Showed Out in Garbage Time
Final: Pistons 126, Grizzlies 110
Look, this game got decided early and often, but there's actually some wild stuff happening in the box score that matters for your lineups. Detroit rolled, sure, but Memphis had some dudes pop off in a losing effort, which tells you something about role changes and opportunity if the injuries keep piling up.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cade Cunningham | 64.0 | 55.1 | 17/8/15 | 24.7/5.7/10.1 | -7.7 |
| Jalen Duren | 54.0 | 51.6 | 30/13/0 | 18.7/10.6/1.7 | +11.3 |
| Javon Small | 45.0 | 36.1 | 23/3/3 | 8.9/3.0/3.8 | +14.1 |
| Cam Spencer | 38.0 | 31.9 | 19/2/5 | 11.4/2.7/5.5 | +7.6 |
| Duncan Robinson | 34.0 | 27.2 | 14/6/4 | 12.1/2.7/2.0 | +1.9 |
| Marcus Sasser | 32.0 | 25.6 | 16/3/2 | 5.6/1.1/1.9 | +10.4 |
| Ty Jerome | 23.0 | 23.7 | 21/1/3 | 20.1/2.6/5.4 | +0.9 |
| Daniss Jenkins | 24.0 | 23.3 | 4/4/7 | 7.6/1.9/3.1 | -3.6 |
| Kevin Huerter | 24.0 | 22.0 | 11/5/2 | 9.9/3.6/2.5 | +1.1 |
| Taylor Hendricks | 16.0 | 21.0 | 7/5/0 | 6.8/3.6/1.0 | +0.2 |
The Pistons Got Their Win But This Wasn't Peak Cade
Cade Cunningham put up a 55.1 Yahoo line (64 on ESPN) with a triple-double, which sounds fire until you see he scored 17 points. Dude was down 7.7 from his season average on scoring, which tells you Memphis was playing up on him and forcing other Pistons to eat. The 15 assists pop off on the stat sheet, but real talk, this was more about the Pistons hitting their role players than Cade going supernova. Still 55 points is 55 points, but don't expect this assist rate to be normal. He got his looks when Memphis defense collapsed.
Jalen Duren though. THIS is the story. 30 points on 12-15 shooting plus 13 boards in 27 minutes. That's +11.3 from his season average, and it wasn't fluky. He was out here eating in the post on a defensive team that couldn't match his athleticism. He's already one of the league's best finishers inside, but this game showed what happens when a team gives him clean looks. If you're shopping around in trades, Jalen's stock just went up a notch. He's not gonna average 30 every night, but 24-26 with this efficiency? That's coming.
Memphis Wasn't Getting Blown Out by Accident
Here's what's crazy: Memphis's role players went OFF, and it honestly makes you wonder about their depth if the injury situation keeps getting worse. Javon Small dropped 36.1 Yahoo points (23 pts, 7-7 FT, 4 threes) in just 23 minutes. That's +14.1 from his season average. Kid was unconscious from three. He's a 8.9 PPG guy normally, so this is a massive spike, but when your team is down double digits early, garbage time minutes hit different. Still, if Small keeps seeing 20+ minutes, he's worth a low-stakes add in deeper leagues. The shot looked clean.
Javon Small and Marcus Sasser combining for 60+ Yahoo points off the Memphis bench? That shouldn't happen in a 16-point loss. Sasser went 16 points (6-11 FG, 4 threes) in 21 minutes, also up +10.4 from his average. These guys looked good, but understand the context. When you're getting cooked by halftime, you get bench guys stretching their minutes and the defense playing prevent. Don't go all in on Small or Sasser based on this game alone. It's a one-off.
The Real Question: Where Was Memphis?
Looking at the game, it feels like Memphis was just missing bodies. The stat sheet shows Ja Morant didn't play, along with Zach Edey, GG Jackson, and Scotty Pippen Jr. That's your star point guard, your big man, and two key wings. With that much firepower out, role players got minutes they normally wouldn't touch. Cam Spencer (31.9 Yahoo FP) and Ty Jerome (23.7 Yahoo FP) are fine players, but they're not supposed to be your lead dogs. Jerome was basically at his season average (20.1 PPG), so he did what he normally does, but Spencer was +7.6 on scoring. These numbers evaporate once Memphis gets healthy.
The Pistons Did What They're Supposed To
Marcus Sasser (25.6 Yahoo FP) and Duncan Robinson (27.2 Yahoo FP) both showed up for Detroit. Robinson especially looked like he was having fun, going 6-8 from the field with +3.3 on the boards from his average. These are role players executing, not guys you need to hunt in waivers. This was a Jalen Duren game and a "Cade's teammates made shots" game, which is sustainable for fantasy purposes.
What You Should Actually Do
If you own Jalen Duren, you're feeling good but also realistic. He's not a 30-PPG guy, but he's shown he can go for 24-26 on great efficiency when given space. That's valuable.
Marcus Sasser and Javon Small? Not adding them. One-game booms on teams that were getting blown out don't move the needle in re-draft leagues. In dynasty, sure, file it away.
The Memphis situation is worth watching. When Ja comes back, this entire game gets wiped from the record book for fantasy purposes. Cam Spencer and Ty Jerome go back to bench roles. That's just how it works.
Detroit's role depth looked solid, but that's not new. They already had that. Tonight just confirmed it.