DETROIT – Feb. 2, 2022 – The NBA announced today that Pistons guard Cade Cunningham was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January. He becomes the first Pistons rookie since Jonas Jerebko (February, 2010), and only the sixth player in franchise history, to win the award.
The first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Cunningham led all rookies in scoring (17.3 ppg) while leading all Eastern Conference rookies in assists (5.6 apg) in January. Some highlights of his performance for the month included a career-high 34 points (career-high 6-9 3FG) along with eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a career-high four blocks vs. Denver (1/25) to become the first player in NBA history to record such a stat line with six 3-pointers made. Cunningham also joined Michael Jordan as the only rookie in league history to record 34 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four blocks in a single game.
Cunningham led the Pistons to a come-from-behind win vs. Utah (1/10), scoring 24 second-half points, including 18 in the third quarter, to help Detroit overcome a 22-point first-half deficit. His 29 points and eight assists vs. the Jazz marked only the fourth time a Pistons rookie had recorded such totals in a game. Cunningham scored all 19 of his points in the second half vs. Cleveland (1/30) and added 10 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals to earn his second career triple-double and lead the Pistons to a win after trailing 0-15 to start the game. He became the first rookie in franchise history to record multiple triple-doubles.
The Arlington, Texas native recorded two games with 25-plus points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists for the month of January and was the only rookie to tally such numbers in any game for the month. In January, he recorded 12 games with 10-plus points and four games with 20-plus points while grabbing five-plus rebounds seven times and dishing out five-plus assists 10 times.
Among qualified NBA rookies this season, Cunningham currently ranks tied for first in scoring (15.8 ppg), sixth in rebounds (5.5 rpg), second in assists (5.2 apg), second in steals (1.3 spg) and second in free-throw percentage (86.0).
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