The Detroit Pistons have a litany of players on the injury report for their matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves
When the NBA scheduled tonight’s matchup between the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the league probably expected that the cross-conference battle would pack a little more star power than will take the court today.
With just nine games left in the regular season, the Detroit Pistons are itching to get over the line and enter the playoffs after star point guard Cade Cunningham went down with a collapsed lung nearly two weeks ago. At first, Cunningham’s injury was labeled as back spasms, then the diagnosis progressed to a back contusion before finally landing on pneumothorax. Cunningham was given a two-week window before he’d be reevaluated, and the All-Star is nearing the end of that initial timeline.
But apart from Cunningham’s absence, the Pistons are managing a slew of other injury woes for their 73rd game of the year.
While Cunningham has been out of the starting lineup for a while now, the Pistons are also dealing with health issues to Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Duncan Robinson and Tobias Harris– Detroit’s entire starting lineup. Robinson missed the Pistons’ last game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke about his status after Thursday night’s 129-108 victory.
“This morning he woke up a little sore,” Bickerstaff said. “Had a conversation, and just the right thing to do was to give him an opportunity to get some rest because we don’t want it to get any worse.”
As for Duren, the first-time All-Star is battling a right knee issue leading into the Minnesota contest, while Harris (left hip) and Thompson (right ankle) are all listed as questionable as well.
With those players all trending in a negative direction health-wise, the Pistons might welcome a pair of guard back to the lineup since Marcus Sasser and Caris LeVert are both listed as probable to play. Sasser missed several games with a right hip injury, and LeVert has been dealing with right knee soreness lately as well. Not to be forgotten, Isaiah Stewart is closer to returning from his calf strain, but the Pistons will have more information on that prior to tip-off.
On the T-Wolves’ side of the matchup, Ant Edwards has been hampered with a knee injury during the final portion of the regular season slate, and the All-Star scorer will be held out of tonight’s game in order to continue his recovery before the playoffs. Ayo Dosunmu is currently day-to-day with a calf issue, but he’s listed as questionable for the 5:30 contest, which means the T-Wolves could have one important guard back in the lineup.
Right now, the Pistons’ magic number to secure the No. 1 seed in the East is down to five games. Also, it’s important to note that Detroit has a first-round pick swap with the Timberwolves for the 2026 NBA Draft, so the Pistons have multiple motivations to produce a win later tonight.
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