The Detroit Pistons are in serious trouble after Cade Cunningham suffered a lung injury. He will be reevaluated in two weeks and is expected to miss at least eight games.
The Pistons didn't miss him much in Thursday's 117-95 win over the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. They improved to 50–19 and reached 50 wins for the first time in 18 years.
While fans are concerned about Cunningham missing for an extended period of time, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said there is no need to panic.
"The good news is they've got a four-game lead for a seed in the Eastern Conference standings. I think seeding is less important this year than health, obviously, but the Pistons played very hard. It would be great if they could get a seed so they have some cushion. They've played OK without Cade, they're 5-2 without him," Windhorst said.
"There are some tankers left on that schedule. There's no doubt some tough games, but they should get some wins."
Windhorst also raised the possibility of the 24-year-old guard returning sooner than later.
Windhorst said, "When the Pistons announced this injury, they didn't announce the rib injury. Now, maybe they're not giving it all out, but if he survived the big rib injury, it could potentially be more positive for him to come back in a shorter time frame."
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The team's next five assignments aren't exactly a walk in the park: the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Cunningham, who is in danger of being ineligible for individual awards, averaged career-highs of 24.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 9.9 assists and 1.5 steals.
Jalen Duren led Detroit with 24 points, 11 rebounds and two steals against the Wizards.
