The Pistons were able to grind out another win on Monday night, but it came under dire circumstances as they were missing six players to injury. The absence of three starters and three key bench players forced JB Bickerstaff to dive deep into his rotation. The Pistons' health issues are quickly becoming a major concern for the team and may come back to haunt them.
The Pistons' injuries are putting strain on everyone
With so many of his teammates missing the game, Cade Cunningham emptied the clip and took it upon himself to create as much offense as possible. It was a valiant effort that resulted in an unlikely win, but it took a lot out of Cade. The Pistons must be careful not to overtax him while other players miss time.
On one play in the fourth quarter, Pistons fans feared for the worst when Cade landed hard on his tailbone after a foul in transition. The team's morale had already seemed tired and dejected throughout the night with so few healthy players, but losing Cade to injury would have sucked the air completely out of Little Caesars Arena.
Cade did still have Jalen Duren, who has played like an All-Star so far, at his side but even asking two guys to carry an offense entirely is too much. The absolute worst-case scenario for the Pistons will be one of those two guys missing extended time, as they are arguably the two most irreplaceable players on the team.
Somehow or another, the Pistons must find a way to preserve Cade and Duren through their upcoming stretch of games. Ideally, it will come in the form of other players returning to full health and taking some of the workload for themselves. But if good health does not come to fruition, the Pistons will need to get creative to maximize their deep rotation.
If the Pistons can consistently get more out of end-of-the-bench guys like Daniss Jenkins, at least for another couple weeks, they will save the legs of their stars from a heavy burden. It can end up being the difference in the playoffs when the team will need all their best players at full health.
The Pistons were remarkably lucky last season from a health perspective. Although Jaden Ivey suffered a tragic season-ending injury in January, the remaining regular rotation players had great health in the final 50 games of the regular season. It corresponded with the Pistons making a great run and building momentum towards their first playoff series in years. Hopefully the Pistons can get back to that good health for the stretch run of 2026 as well.