The Boston Celtics are surging at exactly the right moment — and a devastating injury to Detroit’s franchise cornerstone just blew the No. 1 seed race wide open.
Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a mild collapsed lung and will miss “at least a pair of weeks,” according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. A return in time for the playoffs remains possible, but for the final stretch of the regular season, the Pistons will have to navigate without their offensive engine and primary playmaker.
That news lands like a thunderclap in Boston.
The Celtics improved to 46-23 with a 120-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, cutting Detroit’s lead to just 3.5 games with only 14 games remaining for both teams.
Even better: this surge has perfectly coincided with the return of Jayson Tatum from his Achilles injury. Since rejoining the lineup, Boston is 5-1 and Tatum — still ramping up — is averaging 20.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 29.3 minutes. Last season’s 26.8/8.7/6.0 line tells you exactly how dangerous this team becomes once he’s fully rolling again.
Detroit still sits atop the East at 49-19 and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker (3-1 over Boston), but the margin for error has suddenly vanished. The Pistons are one win away from their first 50-win season since 2007-08, yet now they must do it without the player who makes everything go.
Boston’s remaining schedule is no gift — ranked seventh-toughest in the league with opponents posting a combined .535 winning percentage — but with Tatum trending upward and the roster clicking again, the Celtics look built for this exact moment.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks (46-25) lurk just five games back with one of the softest remaining schedules in the conference. Three teams are now firmly in the mix.
What once looked like a comfortable Pistons runaway has turned into a frantic sprint.
The major obstacle standing between the Celtics and the No. 1 seed? It just got removed — and Boston is not wasting the opportunity.
The final two weeks of the regular season are going to be electric.