The Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seeded Detroit Pistons (10-2) are heading into a tough matchup against the East’s No. 3 seeded Philadelphia 76ers (7-4) and their 32.1-point scorer Tyrese Maxey on Friday night.
Unfortunately, the Pistons were hit with an unsettling bit of news prior to their faceoff, as the availability of their early-season MVP candidate Cade Cunningham was called into question.
According to an update from the team’s X/Twitter account, Cunningham’s status appears to be up for interpretation as he continues to recover from a left hip contusion.
Detroit labeled the 6-foot-6 floor general and 2025 All-Star as questionable for the highly anticipated battle against Philadelphia, a contest that could prove to be a massive momentum-shifter for either side.
Cunningham has risen to the No. 6 spot the NBA’s MVP ladder due to exemplary individual play combined with the Pistons’ recent team success.
If Detroit is tasked with fending off Maxey and stellar rookie guard VJ Edgecombe with their leader sidelined with a hip injury, the team will have to rely heavily upon their improving 21-year-old center Jalen Duren for an added offensive spark. That is, if he also suits up for the contest and bypasses his own questionable tag (right ankle sprain).
Through 11 appearances in 2025-26, Cunningham has posted incredible box score figures of 27.5 points, 9.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals on a 53.8% true shooting percentage.
If Duren is unavailable, the Pistons could lean on their sixth-year center Paul Reed, as the 6-foot-9 frontcourt force is coming off of a statement performance in a 124-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, when he contributed 28 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals in 31 minutes of action.
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