The Pistons were dealt a major blow on Thursday when Cade Cunningham was diagnosed with a collapsed lung. However, there was some relief in Detroit that the star guard didn’t sustain a broken rib, Vincent Goodwill of ESPN said on NBA Today (Twitter video link).
According to Goodwill, Cunningham appears likely to miss the remainder of the regular season, but the team is hopeful its best player will recover from the ailment in time for Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs, which will begin on April 18.
When the Pistons announced Cunningham’s injury, they said he’d be reevaluated in two weeks. Goodwill hears they’re optimistic Cunningham’s lung will have healed by that point, and then he’ll ideally begin doing non-contact work for a week, followed by a week (or more) of contact work ahead of the playoffs.
“It’s tough. Tough for Cade to go through what he’s going through now,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said prior to Thursday’s game at Washington (Twitter link via Hunter Patterson of The Athletic). “ … He’s a huge part of what we do from a leadership standpoint. The talent’s there, but being around him every single day makes people’s days better. We’ll miss that.”
We have more on the Pistons:
- Bickerstaff said before the game that Detroit will be playing through All-Star center Jalen Duren more often with Cunningham sidelined, per Patterson (Twitter link). “That’s what it’s going to be,” Bickerstaff said. “The ball is going to be in his hands a ton, and he has the ability. It’s been great to see his growth overall as a connector. … He’s a guy we’ll play through.” Duren had a strong performance against the tanking Wizards, recording 24 points, 11 rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes in the 22-point victory.
- The Pistons collected their 50th win of the season on Thursday. It’s the first time they’ve won 50-plus games since 2007/08, when they went 59-23, the team noted (via Twitter). Detroit now has a four-game lead over Boston for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
- In his third game back from a right ankle sprain, third-year wing Ausar Thompson finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 22 minutes. The team’s top perimeter defender discussed Cunningham’s absence after the win, as Patterson tweets. “We play with him in our mind,” Thompson said. “How hard he goes every day, his energy, we’ve got to step up as a collective and bring that. … When he comes back we’re going to be very excited and ready for him to step in and do what he does.“