Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung and is expected to miss an extended period of time.
The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons announced Thursday that Cunningham has a left lung pneumothorax and will be reevaluated in two weeks, meaning he will miss at least eight games.
Sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that the collapse of Cunningham’s lung is considered mild.
There is some optimism that Cunningham will be back in time for the start of the playoffs, which begin on April 18, sources told Charania.
Cunningham, who is among the leaders in the NBA MVP race, left Tuesday’s game against the Washington Wizards with what the Pistons initially described as back spasms.
The two-time All-Star guard appeared to suffer the injury when he dove for a loose ball and collided into Wizards guard Tre Johnson with 7:44 left in the first quarter. Cunningham appeared to be laboring until he checked out 1:04 later.
The Pistons (49-19), who play at Washington again Thursday, are 3½ games ahead of the surging Boston Celtics (46-23) atop the East standings.
Detroit entered Thursday 5-2 in games without Cunningham this season.
Cunningham, 24, is averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists — the second most in the NBA — in 61 games this season for the Pistons, stellar numbers for a club that is on pace for its best season in nearly two decades.
Only eight players in NBA history have finished a season averaging that many points and assists, and Cunningham would be the first to do so in a Detroit uniform.
Because he lasted just five minutes in Tuesday’s contest, Cunningham needs to play in at least five more games to reach the 65-game threshold required to be eligible for the league’s regular-season awards such as MVP, All-NBA teams and Defensive Player of the Year.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks and The Associated Press contributed to this report.