Pistons’ Cade Cunningham Will Miss Key Matchups With Collapsed Lung

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is expected to miss at least two weeks with a collapsed lung.

Although Cunningham’s collapsed lung is considered mild, the Pistons are still going to be cautious. He left the last game against the Washington Wizards after just five minutes. 

A collapsed lung occurs when air leaks into the space between the lung and the chest, causing the lung to collapse. It’s an uncommon condition, but not unheard of in the NBA. Gerald Wallace, Terrance Jones and C.J. McCollum all had to miss games due to a collapsed lung. McCollum missed 18 games in 2021, totaling 41 days.

Based on the current timetable, Cunningham will miss games against the Wizards, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors and another game against the Timberwolves.

There are several difficult matchups coming up for the Pistons. The Lakers are on a seven-game win streak, the Hawks are on an 11-game win streak, and the Thunder are on a 10-game win streak. 

The last time the Pistons had to play without Cunningham was on March 7 against the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets came back down 23 to defeat the Pistons with strong contributions from Ziaire Williams (23 points) and Day’Ron Sharpe (13 points). 

If the current timetable stands, Cunningham will return on April 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers. This will be with five games left in the regular season. That’s the exact number of games Cunningham needs to play to be eligible for major awards like MVP and the All-NBA team. NBA.com currently ranks Cunningham in the top five in MVP voting. 

The Pistons will play their first game since Cunningham’s injury announcement on March 19 against the Wizards at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.