Cade suffers collapsed lung

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Cade Cunningham, who has sparked the Detroit Pistons to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference lead, will miss at least two weeks with a collapsed left lung, the team announced on Thursday.

Cunningham leads the Pistons with 24.5 points and 9.9 assists a game and also has 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest.

The 24-year-old American guard left Tuesday’s 130-117 victory at Washington in the first quarter with what was thought to be back spasms as he dove for a loose ball and collided with Wizards guard Tre Johnson.

“After further testing, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a left lung pneumothorax,” the Pistons said in a statement. “He will be reevaluated in two weeks.”

That means Cunningham will miss at least eight games for the Pistons as they cling to the top seed in the East for the upcoming NBA playoffs.

At 49-19, the Pistons lead Boston (46-23) by 3.5 games in the East.

Cunningham will miss games against Washington, Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta, New Orleans, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Toronto.

His earliest possible return would be 2 April in a home game against Minnesota.

The Pistons have not won a playoff series since 2008. They have only reached the playoffs three times since 2009 and had not managed a winning season since 2016 until last year, when they fell to the Knicks in the first round.

Meanwhile, LeBron James tied the NBA record for most regular-season games played as his Los Angeles Lakers took on the Miami Heat on Thursday.

James took the court for his 1,611th regular-season game, equalling Hall of Famer Robert Parish’s record, and can break the mark when the Lakers visit Orlando on Saturday.

James, playing his unprecedented 23rd season, already holds a host of NBA records, including points scored, field goals made and field goals attempted.

His latest milestone comes in a return to Miami, where he played for four seasons and won the first two of his four NBA titles.