Washington (United States) (AFP) – Cade Cunningham, who has sparked the Detroit Pistons to the NBA Eastern Conference lead, will miss at least two weeks with a collapsed left lung, the team announced on Thursday. Cunningham leads the Pistons with 24.5 points and 9.9 assists a game and also has 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest.
The 24-year-old American guard left Tuesday’s 130-117 victory at Washington in the first quarter with what was thought to be back spasms as he dove for a loose ball and collided with Wizards guard Tre Johnson. “After further testing, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a left lung pneumothorax,” the Pistons said in a statement. “He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.”
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That means Cunningham will miss at least eight games for the Pistons as they cling to the top seed in the East for the upcoming NBA playoffs. At 49-19, the Pistons lead Boston (46-23) by 3.5 games in the East. Cunningham will miss games against Washington, Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta, New Orleans, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, and Toronto. His earliest possible return would be April 2 in a home game against Minnesota.
The Pistons have not won a playoff series since 2008. They have only reached the playoffs three times since 2009 and had not managed a winning season since 2016 until last year, when they fell to the Knicks in the first round.
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