{"id":595760,"date":"2026-04-09T13:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/595760\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:45:16","slug":"cade-cunningham-returns-to-pistons-lineup-against-bucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/595760\/","title":{"rendered":"Cade Cunningham returns to Pistons lineup against Bucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2150895\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2150895\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269847819-scaled-e1775692004404.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1152\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2150895\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cade Cunningham is introduced before his return to the lineup on Wednesday against the Bucks.<\/p>\n<p>DETROIT (AP) \u2014 Pistons guard Cade Cunningham had a double-double in his return to the lineup on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham, who had been sidelined since March 19 after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/cade-cunningham-out-collapsed-lung\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sustaining a collapsed lung<\/a> in a win over the Washington Wizards, finished with 13 points and 10 assists in 26 minutes as the Pistons won <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/game\/mil-vs-det-0022501160\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">137-111<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt really good out there,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to thank the medical staff and the trainers, because they got me into a great place where I felt comfortable for all my minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham was averaging 24.5 points, 9.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 61 games this season, but the Pistons were able to go 8-3 during his absence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never want to see what happened to Cade, but we couldn\u2019t just focus on the negatives,\u201d Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. \u201cNo one thought they could replace Cade, but everyone decided they were going to be the best version of themselves. That\u2019s enough for us to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bickerstaff said Cunningham\u2019s playing time in Detroit\u2019s last two games will depend on how he feels Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>He is considered a very strong candidate for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/history-all-time-awards\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">All-NBA First Team honors<\/a>. But\u00a0he will only reach 64 games even if he plays in Detroit\u2019s three remaining games. The NBA requires players to play 65 games to be eligible for seasonal awards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI respect what they are trying to do with the rule \u2014 fans pay a lot of money to see superstars play, not rest,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cIt puts me in a tough spot, but I know people are talking about exceptions. I\u2019m not sure how that works, so I\u2019m just going to finish the season and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Pistons (57-22) have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/2026-nba-playoffs-standings-and-bracket-updates\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">clinched the No. 1 seed<\/a> in the Eastern Conference. They have also won the Central Division for the first time in 18 years and are hoping to win their first playoff series since the 2007-08 season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of our guys got some great reps to build confidence and learn new ways we can attack, both offensively and defensively,\u201d Bickerstaff said. \u201cThat\u2019s important, because you see some many different things in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cade Cunningham is introduced before his return to the lineup on Wednesday against the Bucks. DETROIT (AP) \u2014&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,290842,590,85],"class_list":["post-595760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cade-cunningham-return","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}