The Detroit Pistons head to Toronto tonight to take on the Raptors and hopefully do something they’ve not accomplished since 2018-19: Clinch a playoff berth.
Detroit was hoping that the Wizards would help them out last night and beat the Magic, but that didn’t happen so the Pistons will have to take care of their own business against a Raptors team that will be on the second game of a back-to-back.
The Pistons are now tied with Milwaukee for the 5th seed, though not really, as the Bucks have the tiebreaker, so Detroit has slipped back to 6th in reality. I don’t think Detroit cares who they play in the first round, and they will have a chance to catch and overtake the Bucks in the final two games if they can just stay tied or within one.
Most of the talk around Detroit has centered on Cade Cunningham and the calf injury that has kept him out for six straight games, with fans running to the extremes of worry or nonchalance.
His injury status has been upgraded for tonight, but there’s a new injury concern as we head into the home stretch.
Pistons injuries vs. Raptors: Is Cade Cunningham playing tonight?
The good news is that Cade Cunningham has been upgraded to questionable for tonight against Toronto, so we’ll have to wait until game time to see if he plays.
The bad news is that Tobias Harris has already been ruled out with an Achilles after coming back and playing one game, which is somewhat concerning.
Cunningham is the engine that makes this team go, but Harris has been the glue that holds it all together, the stabilizer who is a part of all of their best lineups. He also happens to be the only power forward on the roster, so it is somewhat concerning that he is back on the injury report after just one game.
The Pistons are also missing Jaden Ivey, who is just over a week away from being re-evaluated, likely for the final time to see if he can come back this season.
Ulrich Chomche and Brandon Ingram (Pistons dodged a bullet there) are out for the Raptors and Gradey Dick, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl all missed last night’s game and are day-to-day, though Quickley and Poeltl were just “resting” (tanking) so should return tonight.
How tow watch Pistons vs. Raptors
This game has been relegated to FanDuel Sports Detroit Extra and 950 AM or you can stream on one of many options.
Let’s hope tonight is the night the Pistons clinch the playoffs!