The Pistons may be unbeaten, but Tuesday’s matchup comes with a long injury list and another test for a team trying to keep its strong start intact.
Detroit will be without Jalen Duren, who remains sidelined by a right hamstring strain. Ausar Thompson is questionable with a right ankle sprain, and Isaiah Joe is also questionable because of a right hip contusion. The Pistons also won’t have Ugonna Onyenso available, while Elijah Harkless and Isaac Jones are both listed as questionable.
Duren’s absence is expected to stretch on for at least two weeks after he suffered the hamstring strain against the Miami Heat on Friday. He signed a $200 million contract extension shortly before the season.
That leaves Paul Reed in line for a bigger job in the middle. Reed finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes against Philadelphia. Still, that kind of interior impact could be harder to duplicate against a Knicks front line that features Karl-Anthony Towns at center.
Detroit will also lean on Cade Cunningham, who put up 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against the 76ers. The ball security hasn’t been clean - Cunningham has already piled up 16 turnovers in three games - but he has been a problem for New York before. The Pistons swept all three regular-season meetings with the Knicks last season, and Cunningham averaged 27.3 points and 11 assists in those games.
New York, meanwhile, has its own early-season problems. The Knicks have only Jose Alvarado on the injury report, and he is out with a left ankle sprain. The defending champions opened the year 0-3 after blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead against the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
That puts New York in a harsh bit of company. The Knicks are the first defending NBA champions to start 0-3 since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks, and another defeat would make them the first defending champs to drop their first four games since the 1969-70 Boston Celtics.
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The Pistons frontcourt questions got a little louder in a recent matchup with the Knicks, when Jalen Duren was out with a hamstring injury and Detroit had to lean more heavily on its backup options. With Duren unavailable, the spotlight shifted to Tolu Smith, who was asked to absorb a bigger role than usual and showed just how thin the margin can be behind the teams top center.
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New York wound up winning by 14 points to pick up its first victory of the 2026-27 season, leaving Detroit to sort through another night without much to show for it. Danhausens presence is a reminder of how the Knicks playoff run continues to linger in odd places, even if the connection didnt come with a ring the first time around. [Read more 🡒]