Stephon Castle & Cade Cunningham status ahead of Spurs/Pistons clash

The Spurs will play a team they should be looking at for inspiration this summer after their meteoric rise this year. The Pistons went from being the league's laughingstock to a legitimate playoff team. Detroit has a 40-31 record and sits comfortably at the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. But admiration will come later; tonight, these old NBA Finals adversaries will battle on the hardwood.

The Pistons are led by Cade Cunningham, a former number-one overall pick whose game fully clicked this season, but they may be without him tonight. Cunningham showed up on the injury report with a "questionable" designation after missing Sunday's game against New Orleans. The Motor City boys may get Tim Hardaway Jr. back after missing the last week of games, though.

San Antonio has had injury issues all season, so much so that Spurs fans have been exhibiting apathy when a new player pops up on the report. Stephon Castle is the latest addition. He's dealing with a hyperextended knee and is also questionable for the game. So, it will be business as usual.

Spurs vs. Pistons notes

The Spurs and Pistons have played each other in the regular season 103 times. San Antonio is ahead in the all-time series 65-38. However, Detroit won the last contest between these two teams by 15 points (120-105). It was the second night of a back-to-back in the immediate aftermath of the Victor Wembanyama announcement, revealing he would miss the rest of the season.

Emotions were likely all over the place, and fatigue was certainly a factor, but it won't be any easier tonight. The Pistons are a good team, and the Silver and Black have some catching up to do. Both of these teams were at the very bottom of the league standings last season, but one team has overachieved in a special and enviable way while the other has faced nonstop adversity.

The shorthanded Spurs are likely to lose but not without a fight

De'Aaron Fox went 11-18 the last time these teams played, and they still lost by double-digits. Usually, that wouldn't bode well for us since Fox won't be in the lineup this time, but the Spurs have played some very weird basketball lately. While their defense has been worse than ever, their offense has been one of the best in the NBA.

That makes the game hard to predict, but at the very least, it should be an exciting game. Hopefully, Stephon Castle and Cade Cunningham are in the lineup. They bring the most juice for both teams, and Spurs fans want to be entertained, even if our team loses. We'll look on the bright side of a high draft pick. Just don't embarrass us.

16:46 Update - Stephon Castle is available

Stephon Castle's status has been updated to "available" for tonight's game vs. the Detroit Pistons.