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The Pistons are officially taking on the Knicks for their first Playoff matchup since the 2018-19 season. The Knicks being the higher seed, will have the first 2 games at Madison Square Garden. Game 1 is set to tip off at 6pm on Saturday April 19th. Game 2 is then set to tip off in New York at 7:30 on Monday April 21st, meaning it will be a pretty quick turnaround for both teams. Unfortunately, the first home game for the Pistons will be Thursday April 24th, which is also the kickoff for the NFL Draft. So, it is very likely the Pistons will be playing in tandem with the first round. But enough about that, let’s get into the game.

Game 1 Preview:

INJURY REPORT:

Pistons: As of now, the Pistons only have 2 players on their injury report, Isaiah Stewart and Jaden Ivey. Stewart was held out of the final two games of the season due to a knee injury, and he is currently seen as ‘day to day’. There are no new updates on Stewart at this moment, but I am under the assumption he will play. Jaden Ivey is not likely to play, but he has been cleared for basketball activities. I would expect him to slowly be brought back, as he has missed quite a bit of time. There is a chance he doesn’t play in this series at all, but there is also a chance we see him play a little bit here and there; either way, he likely won’t be a very impactful player this series.

Knicks: The Knicks only have two players on the injury report as well, OG Anunoby and Ariel Hukporti. Anunoby is listed as ‘day to day’ with a thumb injury that kept him out of the final game of the season. Hukporti is listed as ‘out’ with a knee injury. Coach Thibodeau said he is a “ways away” from returning this season. I would assume Anunoby will play.

Luckily, both teams are relatively healthy coming into this series.

SERIES PREVIEW:

It will be very hard for the current Pistons team to overcome the fire power they have in New York with Brunson, Towns, Bridges, Anunoby, Hart, and more. Currently, the Knicks rank 9th in scoring, 24th in rebounding, 4th in field goal percentage, 6th in assist to turnover ratio, 7th in turnover %, 8th in net rating with a 4.2, 5th in offensive rating at 118.5, and 13th in defensive rating at 114.3. Just based on these stats, there are a few things the Pistons could possibly take advantage of, mainly rebounding.

As I have mentioned many times before, I am worried about the Pistons’ ability to just keep up in general in this series. In the regular season, though, Detroit was 3-1 vs the Knicks, which gives me slight optimism, but the Playoffs is an entirely different animal. The Pistons will need an amazing team effort, and even then, it will be very hard. Detroit has needed better perimeter defense all season, so Brunson will likely give us fits. Towns will likely also have his way as well, as we don’t really have anyone I would feel overly confident guarding him. Our best bet is Duren or Stewart, but both are relatively undersized. At 6’10” and 6’8″ respectively, it will be tough to guard 7’0″ KAT. Not only that, Towns is coming off of his best year yet, averaging 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 52.6% from the field and 42% from three, so he is coming into this series as confident as ever. In the last match-up, KAT had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists on just 29 minutes due to early foul trouble. I was in person at the game, and while Stewart seemed to do a decent job defending him, he had his way more often than not. Against the Pistons this year, Towns averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 46.6% from the field and 43.8% from three. It seems he doesn’t shoot quite as well in the post against Detroit, which is a small positive. I don’t see the Pistons doing a great job to slow him down, especially with all of the other threats they have on the floor.

Even if they do a good job on KAT, it will likely open the door for Brunson, Bridges, Anunoby, and Hart, all of which could cause issues for us. I see it like this: with Towns in the paint, if we are defending him well, he will just kick it out to an open teammate, and all 3 of the players I mentioned are above average shooters, and the Knicks in general shoot it well, hence their top 5 ranking in field goal percentage. A center averaging 5 assists against us isn’t great, and I would assume it’s due to his teammates ability to knock down catch and shoot opportunities.

Bridges will also cause some issues, but I feel pretty confident that Thompson will do a good job on him. It would probably be a good idea to put Ausar on Brunson instead, as Ausar has the exceptional length and athleticism to slow Brunson down. I would feel a lot better about Thompson on Brunson and Cade on Bridges than I would the other way around. Brunson is the type of player who can pick you apart in iso situations. Anunoby, not so much. It would also help lighten the load a bit on Cade, as he will need to put his best scoring output possible on the court every night.

Brunson has averaged 26.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists on 48.9/38.2 shooting splits this season, making him a threat from anywhere on the court. Against the Pistons, he averaged 28.3 points, 7.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 51.2% from the field and 41.9% from three, topping his season averages. He is not having quite the year scoring that he did last year, but that is to be expected when you add a player like Towns, who takes a lot of scoring opportunities. Anunoby doesn’t really scare me on the offensive end, outside of his off-ball abilities, but what really worries me is his defense. I see OG causing a lot of issues for Cade with his physicality and length, and while he wont shut him down completely, it will be very hard for Cade all series.

Hart is another guy who could do some damage on both ends, showing his off-ball and on-ball scoring abilities as well as his ability to guard all positions. Hart is sort of the ‘unsung hero’ on both sides for the Knicks, he scores well with or without the ball, and can defend pretty much anyone on the court, and he does a very good job on the boards too.

Bridges is the scorer I’m worried about outside of Brunson and Towns though. He averaged 19.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 56.6/52.0 shooting splits against Detroit this season. He made more shots than he missed in the 4 game series, while averaging just barely under 20 points. That worries me a lot as he is their 3rd option. Mikal only averaged 17.6 points this season on 50.0/35.4 shooting splits in 37 minutes per game. He averaged more points, with better percentages by far, in less minutes vs Detroit which is definitely worrisome. Especially when you realize the Pistons had just 1 player average over 20 points, and only 1 other player averaging over 15, Cade and Beasley. The Pistons will have their work cut out for them, on both sides of the court.

Now, the Pistons are no slouches either. On the season, they rank 11th in points, 13th in rebounds, 14th in assists, 20th in assist to turnover ratio, 21st in turnover %, 12th in net rating with a 1.9, 14th in offensive rating at 114.6, and 10th in defensive rating at 112.5. Outside of the things I mentioned prior, one of my key worries is turnovers. The Knicks have a much higher assist to turnover ratio, and a much lower turnover percentage. The Pistons’ downfall in this series will likely be scoring output, and possession by possession basketball. The Knicks just have too much firepower for this current Pistons team. Unfortunately, the numbers and the names on paper all point to the Knicks winning this series, sooner than later. Even having beaten them 3 out of 4 times already, it would take just short of a miracle for the Pistons to move on to the next round.

There is a chance that some guys step up immensely. If Beasley or Harris average 25+ while holding the Knicks stars to less, we have a chance. Or, if the role players step up consistently and can out score the Knicks’ bench, we have a chance. This game will essentially come down to rebounding, and ability to hit shots. If the Pistons can out rebound the Knicks, that would be the first step to winning this series, but it wont be easy. Defense and shot making ability are a given as well, as they are in every game, but the Pistons will really have to do all three at a high level to move on to the next round. Unfortunately, I just don’t think the Pistons have the defensive or offensive firepower to beat this Knicks team. I wouldn’t rule it out though, as it is possible the Pistons have the right game plan and make it happen, but the Knicks are clearly better on paper.

PREDICTION:

This will be a hard fought series from both sides, but with everything mentioned before, it will likely be very hard for Detroit to win game 1 especially, as it will be in New York.

Knicks take game 1 117-109 in Madison Square Garden.

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