After earning their first win of the season in Philadelphia against the 76ers on Wednesday, the Detroit Pistons are back in action tonight at home against the New York Knicks.

Blessed with injury luck with both Joel Embiid and Paul George out for Philly, they could get another favorable draw with Karl-Anthony Towns’ status up in the air.

Can the Pistons win two games in a row for the first time since March?

Game Vitals

When: Friday, November 1 at 7:00 PM EST
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Chances: Pistons +6.5

Analysis

Detroit and New York entered the year with vastly different prospects.

The Pistons were just trying to find some respect, the Knicks were trying to go all in on a championship run. It was a bit of a mixed bag for both teams. New York has won two of three after being defeated by the Boston Celtics on opening night.

Cities have been a major reason for this. Towns was traded to the Knicks from Minnesota this summer and has been everything the Knicks could ask for offensively. He scored 44 points Wednesday night and showed the versatile, floor-filling style that New York never really had with Isaiah Hartenstein last season.

Together with Jalen Brunson (22.8 points per game), he forms one of the best duos in the East.

KAT is a game-day decision tonight due to a wrist injury, and if he plays, it will be interesting to see how Detroit compares. Jalen Duren’s efficiency on offense has been a plus, but otherwise he has struggled to start the season.

He was thoroughly outplayed by backup Isaiah Stewart in Philly, and Stew’s behind-the-scenes defensive numbers paint a rosier picture. He has been an incredible asset in that regard and his impact has been palpable as the Pistons jumped on the floor with him.

They showed some restraint and perseverance on defense, which was much needed.

I think it’s still a tough matchup for Stew, but if we see Duren starting tonight’s match against KAT, I wouldn’t be surprised if the latter has 10-15 points in the first quarter. After all, he has averaged 24 points per game against Detroit since 2020.

The Knicks have a lot of big bodies on the wing to throw to Detroit. How guys like Cade Cunningham, Tobias Harris and Jaden Ivey handle tall defensemen Mikel Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart.

And one more thing to watch out for: Miles McBride. He’s a great player when he’s not on the bench and can knock down threes when he has even a little bit of daylight. Pistons have to keep him under control.

Projected lineups

New York Knicks (2-2)

Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Detroit Pistons (1-4)

Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Question of the day

What can the Pistons take from their win in Philly into tonight’s game against the Knicks?