Pistons Coach Offers Important Details on Cade Cunningham's Injury

J.B. Bickerstaff discussed Cade Cunningham's injury before the matchup against the Orlando Magic.

Nov 18, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) drives to the basket as Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) defends during the first half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images | David Reginek-Imagn Images

Down in Orlando, Florida, the Detroit Pistons rolled without their top playmaker and scorer for the first time since they fired up the 2024-2025 NBA season.

Cade Cunningham went down with an injury late in the matchup against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday and wasn’t cleared to return to action when the game went into overtime.

The Pistons came up short with their second nail-biting loss to the Hornets on the road this month. After collecting their tenth loss of the season, the Pistons had to worry about the health of Cunningham.

Cunningham assured reporters he was fine after the loss, but the emerging All-Star would have to undergo testing the following day to land an official diagnosis. As expected, Cunningham was not a participant in the Pistons’ practice session as he was ruled out on the eve of the Orlando Magic matchup.

A replay of Cade Cunningham’s nasty fall in the 4th quarter landing on his tailbone pic.twitter.com/OtW4r7YODW

— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) November 22, 2024

As the Pistons approached the game, the head coach, JB Bickerstaff, addressed Cunningham’s recent setback to offer some insight into what he’s dealing with. According to Detroit News’ Coty Davis, Bickerstaff considers Cunningham to be day-to-day with his recovery moving forward.

"Those injuries are tough," Bickerstaff told reporters. "When you take a blow to the tailbone-ish area, that's the core of where your movement starts. He's obviously pretty sore but improving. We'll take it day by day and see how he gets better. ... It's just one of those things where, when he wakes up, see how he feels and whether the additional time off helps."

JB on Cade’s injury: “He’s moving forward. Obviously those injuries are tough when you take a blow to the tailbone area. That’s the core of how you move. So he’s progressing but it’s pretty sore.”

— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) November 23, 2024

Without Cunningham on Saturday night against the Magic, the Pistons brought Malik Beasley back to the starting lineup to play alongside Jaden Ivey. While Ivey has been thriving as Cunningham’s backcourt co-star throughout the year, he takes on ball-handling duties for the first time this season.

As for Beasley, he gets a chance to collect his fourth start of the year. In his previous three starts, the veteran knocked down 50 percent of his threes while taking 12 attempts per game. He produced 24 points per game in roughly 35 minutes of action.

After their matchup against the Magic, the Pistons will return home to host the Toronto Raptors on Monday night. Based on Bickerstaff’s latest update regarding Cunningham, it seems it’s too early to count him out for the Raptors matchup.