Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham. Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Pistons provide injury update on young star

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated 1/10/24

The 2023-24 season has been a disaster for the Detroit Pistons.

Detroit is 3-35 and riding a six-game losing streak The Pistons tied the record for the worst losing streak in NBA history earlier this season with 28 straight defeats. There's a chance they do it again.

Yes, they beat the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 30 to stop that terrible streak, but that win wasn't the catalyst the organization was hoping for. The Pistons have gone on losing, and now star point guard Cade Cunningham is injured.

From bad to worse, to potentially catastrophic, the Pistons at the very least got a sliver of good news on Tuesday with a halfway decent diagnosis on their star's left knee.

It could have been worse, but it sounds like Cunningham will simply miss some time with a knee strain.

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will be re-evaluated in 7-10 days following a left knee strain he suffered in Denver pic.twitter.com/CkfBV7LY6r
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) January 9, 2024

Cunningham missed most of last season due to a persisting shin injury that led to season-ending surgery, so a significant injury here would have dampened the already-sullen spirits of Detroit basketball fans.

The third-year point guard started off a bit slowly as he eased into this season, but Cunningham has been the lone bright spot for this team as of late. He's averaging 22.8 points, 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game, but he's been even better than those numbers suggest since about mid-December.

Since Dec. 16 and before the last game when he only played 11 minutes against the Denver Nuggets due to the injury, Cunningham had been averaging 28.7 points and 8.1 assists per game.

It's worth noting that Detroit has been historically conservative regarding Cunningham's health. Still, Pistons fans can at least breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that they should see 2021's No. 1 overall pick sooner rather than later.

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