- 1 New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons: Detroit lose Duren for two weeks, and the champions are still looking for a first win
- 2 New York Knicks: 101.5 points a game, 37% shooting on opening night and 18 turnovers in Boston
- 3 Detroit Pistons: 124.5 points a game and a sweep of New York last season, but no Duren in the middle
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
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New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons: Detroit lose Duren for two weeks, and the champions are still looking for a first win 
Jalen Duren left the second quarter in Miami on Friday after 10 minutes, four points and six rebounds, and on Sunday the Pistons said he’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks. The right hamstring strain rules their All-Star center out of Tuesday’s trip to Madison Square Garden.
Detroit won that Miami game 128-111 anyway, with John Collins scoring 23 and Paul Reed adding 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The Pistons opened the season by coming back from 72-50 down early in the third quarter to beat Boston 121-113, and they’re 2-0 before Sunday’s game in Philadelphia.
New York are 0-2, which is a strange place for the reigning champions to be. They beat San Antonio 4-1 in June with Jalen Brunson as Finals MVP, then lost 106-100 at home to Philadelphia on opening night after leading 58-54 at the half, and 107-103 in Boston on Friday.
Tip-off is 8:00pm ET on Tuesday 27 October at the Garden, on NBC. The Knicks host Orlando on Sunday, so they get Monday off, and they travel to Chicago the following night. Lines for the game hadn’t been posted at the time of writing.
The record between these teams points the other way from the pick I’m going to make. Detroit swept the 2025-26 regular-season series 3-0, winning by 31, 38 and 15. But those were three games against a Pistons team with Duren in the middle, and the reason New York have lost twice this season has more to do with their own shooting than anything an opponent has done.
New York Knicks: 101.5 points a game, 37% shooting on opening night and 18 turnovers in Boston 
The Knicks shot 37% from the field and 33.3% from three against Philadelphia, and Brunson went 6 of 19 for 21 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey’s 28 for the 76ers was enough on a night when New York couldn’t find a second scorer.
The Boston defeat was a different problem. New York shot 16 of 40 from three and outrebounded the Celtics 44-37, but they turned it over 18 times and gave up 19 points off those turnovers, which more or less accounts for a four-point loss.
The individual numbers in that game were fine. Towns scored 22 with 10 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting, OG Anunoby and Miles McBride had 20 each, and Brunson added 19. A team that gets that spread of scoring and loses has a ball-security issue rather than a talent one.
The roster changed at the center position over the summer. Mitchell Robinson left for Boston on a three-year, $47.4 million deal and Ariel Hukporti also left, while Andre Drummond arrived on a one-year contract. Without Duren on the other side, that matters less on Tuesday than it would have in a normal meeting.
Through two games the Knicks are averaging 101.5 points. Towns is at 20.5 points and 11.0 rebounds, Brunson at 20.0, and no Knicks injuries had been reported at the time of writing.
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Detroit Pistons: 124.5 points a game and a sweep of New York last season, but no Duren in the middle 
Detroit’s offence has been the best part of their start. The Pistons are scoring 124.5 points per game on 49.1% shooting, with 30.5 assists and 51 rebounds a game, and they’ve made 15 and 18 threes in their two wins.
Cade Cunningham is averaging 19 points and eight assists, Duncan Robinson 19 points, and Collins 14.5. Collins came in through a six-team trade officially announced on 8 July, as a sign-and-trade from the Clippers, in the same deal that brought Taurean Prince and Gary Harris from Milwaukee and sent Isaiah Stewart to Memphis.
The Duren absence is the part that changes this game. He was an All-Star and third-team All-NBA last season with 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds, and he re-signed for five years and $200 million in early October. Reed and Tolu Smith are expected to take most of the center minutes, and Collins can slide to the five in smaller lineups.
There’s a second concern on the wing. Ausar Thompson rolled his right ankle in the third quarter in Miami and was questionable for Sunday in Philadelphia, and his status for Tuesday wasn’t known at the time of writing. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds against Boston on opening night.
J.B. Bickerstaff’s team won the East’s top seed last season at 60-22 and beat New York 121-90 and 118-80 in Detroit, then 126-111 at the Garden in February. They’ll arrive at MSG having played in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a day off in between.
Probable lineup New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, two other starters not confirmed
Probable lineup Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson (ankle, status to be confirmed), John Collins, Paul Reed
Free NBA Prediction: New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons
Our prediction: New York Knicks to win (moneyline, line not yet posted at time of writing)
The Knicks have lost two games by six and four points while shooting badly and turning the ball over. Those are the kind of problems that tend to correct themselves at home, and the champions get a rested night at the Garden against an opponent playing without its starting center.
Detroit’s sweep last season is a real point against this pick, and their offence has been sharper than New York’s so far. I think Duren’s absence removes the rebounding edge that drove those wins, and Towns, with 11.0 rebounds a game, is the player best placed to take advantage.
The moneyline is my choice rather than a spread, since this game could easily be decided by a single possession. I’d expect the Knicks to be priced comfortably above 1.45 against a 2-0 team, and if Thompson is ruled out, the case gets stronger.
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