Cade Cunningham update: Detroit Pistons rule him out, but reportedly avoids serious injury
After a scary wait, Detroit Pistons fans got some early good news on Cade Cunningham's injury situation.
Cunningham has been ruled out for Tuesday's home game vs. the Sacramento Kings, according to Monday's 5:30 p.m. NBA official injury report, but Shams Charania, an NBA insider for The Athletic, reported on Twitter that the Pistons believe Cunningham will miss a few games with a knee sprain but "avoided any serious injury to his left knee."
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
The welcome news comes after Cunningham exited Sunday night's loss at Denver in the second quarter with a left knee strain after playing 11 minutes. He was hobbled for multiple possessions, stayed in after a timeout, and continued to move poorly on defense before finally coming out of the game for good.
Cunningham has played in all 36 contests for the NBA-worst 3-33 Pistons, after playing just 12 games last season before being shut down in November 2022 and undergoing left shin surgery a month later.
TRENDING: Cade Cunningham's knee strain puts Pistons in bind
Cunningham, 22, is averaging a team-leading 22.8 points on 19 shots per game and 7.3 assists in his third season. Though he has been playing better for the past month, his season shooting splits remain below average: 44.9% overall and 33.5% on 3s for a 49.8 Effective Field Goal percentage. (League average is 36.5% on 3s and 54.5 eFG%.)
Video below of Cunningham moving gingerly during game action before eventually exiting:
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
The Pistons own the NBA's 27th rated offense, and now lose the engine of the operation at least for one game and likely more — they host San Antonio a night later, Wednesday. Look for second-year guard Jaden Ivey to take on a bigger scoring role, with perhaps Killian Hayes returning to the starting lineup at point guard in place of Cunningham.
The Pistons have lost four straight, all on the road, after snapping their NBA-record 28-game losing streak Dec. 30 with a home win over Toronto.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cade Cunningham update: Pistons star reportedly avoid serious injury
