Pistons’ Star Player, Cade Cunningham, Surprisingly Sidelined in Crushing Defeat Against Pelicans

The Detroit Pistons were forced to take on the New Orleans Pelicans in a 114-101 beatdown without franchise point guard Cade Cunningham. After going through an early pregame shootaround, Cunningham was ruled out due to left knee injury management he’s been dealing with for months.

Head coach Monty Williams confirmed the medical team decided he wasn’t able to go and should sit for the game.

Short answer from Monty Williams on the decision of Cade Cunningham not suiting up today:#Pistons pic.twitter.com/9btYpxN3OW

— Eric Vincent (@IAmEricVincent) March 24, 2024

One of the biggest questions surrounding Cunningham in 2023-24 was his ability to remain healthy for the Pistons. Cunningham’s sophomore campaign was cut short after 12 games due to a season-ending shin injury. So far, the third-year guard has played 59 of 71 games this regular season. He has played through a couple of injuries and hasn’t had to sit for an extended period of time.

Another new Pistons starting lineup

The Pistons played their 31st starting lineup of the season in adjustment to their numerous injuries. They opened up the game against the Pelicans with Jaden Ivey, Marcus Sasser, Troy Brown Jr., Chimezie Metu, and James Wiseman as their starters.

Detroit’s pregame injury report was crowded as Cunningham (left knee), Jalen Duren (lower back spasms), Simone Fontecchio (left great toe contusion), Isaiah Stewart (right hamstring), Ausar Thompson (illness), Quentin Grimes (knee), Taj Gibson (hamstring), and Stanley Umude (right ankle) were all ruled inactive. The Pistons have struggled to build consistency all season long due to the constant injuries throughout the roster.

The lack of depth opened up a lot of minutes for Detroit’s other two-way players Tosan Evbuomwan, Jared Rhoden, and Buddy Boeheim. Even Metu played 39 minutes for the Pistons while currently on a 10-day contract.

The 6-10 Nigerian-American forward co-led the team in scoring with 17 points, along with point guard Malachi Flynn. Metu addressed the media in the postgame presser discussing his opportunity in Detroit.

“Yeah, it’s a matter of letting the game come to me and not just going out there doing anything. Just staying within myself and doing the things that I can do,” Metu explained. “Controlling what I can control, playing hard, and when you prepare yourself it’s easy to go out and seize the opportunity like you said.”

Slow start plagues Pistons to the end

Detroit spent a good portion of the game against the Pelicans playing catch-up. The game opened up with the Pistons trailing 29-10 at the end of the first quarter. Turnovers kept their cohesiveness low as they turned the ball over six times in the opening period.

The offensive issues extended as the Pistons shot only 40.5% from the field as a team. Despite some open looks from deep, they only hit 11 of 41 threes averaging 26.8% against New Orleans.

The Pelicans led by as many as 22 points in their road victory at Little Caesars Arena. Star forward Zion Williamson looked unstoppable scoring 36 points on 13 of 14 shooting. Williamson earned all of his points without a single jump shot as he scored every bucket at the rim or the free throw line.