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Cade Cunningham is listed as questionable on the official injury report for the Detroit Pistons’ game on Friday, January 23.
It is happening before our very eyes: The Detroit Pistons are headed back to the NBA playoffs for the second year in row.
Was anyone expecting that would happen in the near future while Detroit’s dreadful 14-win season was going this time two years ago?
The Pistons have authored one of the most impressive turnarounds you’ll see in sports and they are continuing to defy the odds. Even this season.
When star point guard Cade Cunningham, a prominent name in the 2025-26 Kia NBA MVP race, went down with a collapsed lung last month, many drew the line on the team’s season. Detroit, however, has channeled that vintage grit ever since.
The franchise has only punched its ticket to the playoffs but has clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, beating worthy contenders like the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers to the lead.
With a 23-point victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, the Pistons improved to 7-2 since Cunningham was sidelined in March.
Detroit is truly happening, even without one of the best players in the world.
Cade Cunningham is expected to be ready in time for the big games
The standard is always set in the playoffs. The Pistons know that.
They perhaps also have heard the noise out there and the doubt about them swirling. Detroit knows it has a chance to prove the naysayers wrong, but it’ll need the face of the franchise to come back fully healthy and ready to control their own destiny.
The team will have homecourt throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, which is a huge boost for any team, especially a young team still trying to gather its experiences.
GettyCade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit has proven to be the best team in the East all year and has made its presence known in big games. Even just the other night, the Pistons made it interesting on the road against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, showing they can play with anyone no matter who is in or out of the lineup.
The good news now is the Pistons should be ready to trot out their best lineup come the opening game of the playoffs.
According to ESPN’s Vince Goodwill, Cunningham, who is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season, is slated to be a full go for the first game of the postseason.
“Cunningham is expected to be evaluated in a week as he recovers from the collapsed lung, but all indications are he will be ready for the Pistons’ playoff opener in two weeks,” Goodwill wrote. “The Pistons have gone 7-2 in the nine games without Cunningham, and both losses have come in overtime — one to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.”
The Pistons-against-the-world type of mentality
A year ago, Detroit was in a different boat. A playoff team, yes, but viewed a lot different than it is now.
Last season, the Pistons won 44 games and were seen as a cool up-and-coming story. The expectation was a first-round exit, which is exactly what happened.
This season, the Pistons are clearly better and hungrier. Their best player has taken another leap, and so have others, mainly Jalen Duren, on the roster. In the East, they are more the hunted instead of the hunters.
Detroit will have the homecourt advantage in every series, which is crucial. The Pistons have 30 wins at home this season, four more than the second-seeded Boston Celtics with 26 home victories.
While few are expecting the Pistons to even make it out of the East due to their inexperience compared to the Celtics, let alone win a title, Detroit sees their ceiling different and will want to prove that in April and May.
Adel Ahmad Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad
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