After grabbing merely their third win of the season, the Detroit Pistons went on a winless four-game road trip. As they return to Michigan for a three-game homestand, Monty Williams’ boys will prepare to go up against the De’Aaron Fox-led Sacramento Kings. While the Kings are a tough team to match up against, fans of the Pistons received another massive blow after the franchise added Cade Cunningham to the injury report.
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The Detroit Pistons will be going up against the Sacramento Kings without several players being available. Crucial role players Isaiah Stewart and Monte Morris are to be sidelined with a right toe sprain and right quadriceps strain, respectively. Unfortunately, the franchise will also be without their “franchise player” Cade Cunningham, who is set to be out with an injury in his left knee.
#Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (left knee strain) is OUT for tomorrow’s game against the #Kings.
Isaiah Stewart (right great toe sprain) and Monte Morris (right quad) remain out as well.
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) January 8, 2024
Cunningham has been injury-free for the entirety of the season. However, during the previous fixture against the Denver Nuggets, the star guard left the clash after playing merely 11 minutes due to an apparent knee injury.
The exact play in which Cade injured his knee is not known. However, an X (formerly “Twitter”) user highlighted that Cunningham kept limping around for a few possessions. Ultimately, even after taking on the floor after the timeout, he was taken out of the game for good.
Cade injury. Didn’t seem like a particular play? Don’t know but with about 10 minutes in the 2nd he starts stretching it, then tries to run it off.
Timeout comes. Out the timeout the hop was worse and he struggled moving on defense. Asked bench to come out twice. Stayed in… pic.twitter.com/o553wzdwYC
— Julieanne Gilchrist (@JulieanneGilch1) January 8, 2024
Cade Cunningham avoided a serious injury
Following the Detroit Pistons-Denver Nuggets matchup, coach Monty Williams was asked to give an injury update for Cade Cunningham. At that moment, Williams revealed that the team didn’t have enough information yet.
“We don’t have anything official. Just has a bit of a left knee issue, so we’ll give an update once we have an official report,” Monty Williams revealed.
Merely a day later, reports suggested that the 6ft 6” star would miss out on a few games. However, fans will be relieved to learn that Cunningham avoided any serious injury.
Pistons believe star guard Cade Cunningham has avoided any serious injury to his left knee, sources tell me and @JLEdwardsIII. Sigh of relief for Detroit. Cunningham could miss at least a few games. pic.twitter.com/Cs8Xcs0yYl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 8, 2024
Taking on the floor without their best player available will be a tough task for the Pistons. Monty Williams even spoke about the impact of Cunningham’s loss, and how his absence will have a “trickle-down effect across the board”.
“It’s pretty clear: He’s important. Franchise player. So when a guy like that can’t play, it has a trickle-down effect across the board… So pretty clear how important Cade is to our program.” Monty Williams told reporters.
The Detroit Pistons are currently the worst team in the NBA. Holding onto an awful 3-33 record, the franchise is on track to finish the campaign with the worst winning percentage in NBA history. However, amid this forgettable campaign, Cunningham’s brilliance has been one of their only positive takeaways.
Having participated in all the first 36 games of the campaign, the youngster has put up 22.8 points and 7.3 assists on 44.9% FG and 33.5% 3FG (career-high in all). Had it not been for his team’s horrendous performance, Cade Cunningham could’ve been one of the players to make their first All-Star appearance this season.
