The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 113-109 at home in a nail-biting game down the stretch. Dennis Schroder of the Cavaliers faced off against one of his former teams, the Pistons, where he played for a few months last season.
During the game tonight, Schroder decided to trash-talk Cade Cunningham. But instead of making things aggressive, the former teammates kept it light-hearted.
“Don’t talk to me now, I tried to call you, you didn’t answer the phone,” said Schroder to Cunningham as the All-Star guard tried to approach him while a Pistons player took a free throw.
“You got the MVP chants, and now you’re not answering the phone anymore, huh? I got you, though,” Schroder further added moments later.
Dennis Schroder to Cade Cunningham:
“Nah don’t talk to me now. I call you and you didn’t answer the phone. You got the MVP chants and now you not answering the phone no more huh? I got you though.”
😭😭😭
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— ¹⁰ (@HoodiGarland) March 4, 2026
NBA fans saw this interaction and immediately realized that it wasn’t something personal or hostile but also intended to seriously encourage the competition during the game. A subtle reminder from Schroder that he has a reason to go after Cunningham today.
Schroder finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists while shooting 6-10 from the floor (60.0 FG%) and 2-3 from beyond the arc (66.6 3P%). In Donovan Mitchell’s absence, Schroder was the primary matchup with Cunningham almost the entire time they shared the floor.
Cunningham finished the game with 10 points, 14 assists, six rebounds, one block, and one steal. He stuffed the box score but struggled to find efficiency from the floor, shooting 4-16 from the field (25.0 FG%) and not making a single three-point shot throughout the night. Clearly, Schroder put the clamps on him tonight.
The German guard landed with the Pistons in February 2025 as part of the trade package that sent Jimmy Butler to the Warriors. He played in Detroit from February until they were eliminated from the playoffs last season.
Subsequently, he was traded to the Kings as part of a sign-and-trade deal in the summer before eventually landing on the Cavaliers in February this season as part of the trade package for De’Andre Hunter.
The Cavaliers managed to defeat the best team in the East without arguably their best player, Donovan Mitchell. They improved to 39-24 following this win, are fourth in the Eastern Conference, and are now set to host the Celtics on Sunday, March 8.
Meanwhile, the Pistons have fallen to 45-15 but remain first in the East. They will now head to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Thursday, March 5.
