Category: Sports News

This is the second time the Rockets have faced the Atlanta Hawks in the past three days. It’s almost certainly the last time the Rockets will face the Atlanta Hawks this season, barring a Final of some sort – NBA, or NBA Cup. I’m not sure I love these quick turnaround home and home series, as you don’t really get to see the evolution of a team throughout the season. What you do get to see is a team make adjustments from the last game, at least some. Normally such adjustments, or even planning for them, wouldn’t much matter to teams from opposite conferences, as by the time they made it to their second game, the information might not be terribly relevant.

This was not the case tonight and we did see some shifts and the game didn’t go exactly as the last one. For one, Fred VanVleet was back, and ready to play (though Steven Adams and Marcus Smart remained out with injuries).

Both teams had also gotten a bit of rest since the last game, where both teams were on the second night of a back to back. Would this mean more energy in the game? Better shooting from the Hawks? Better shooting from the Rockets? Actually, no. At least not 3pt shooting. The Hawks shot a pretty dismal 28% from three point range on 39 attempts. The Rockets weren’t much better at 30% on 27 attempts. Rebounds, though, significantly favored the Rockets, instead of being a dead heat. The Rockets outrebounded the Hawks 52-35, although offense rebounds very slightly favored Atlanta.

Well, perhaps the Rockets won the turnover battle? Not even close. The Rockets turned the ball over a fairly ghastly 25 times to the Hawks 13. Ok, but the Rockets won the game, how on earth did they do it? By being better at two point shooting, and getting to the rim. They also had a 10 free throw advantage, which might well have been produced by shooting fewer threes, and attacking inside more. Even so, Atlanta shot the ball 98 times to the Rockets 81, that is, they played at a faster pace. You wouldn’t really expect to win such a game going away, except the Rockets did.

First, they shot 53% overall to Atlanta’s 42%, and they made 26FTs out 0f 32, compared to 15 out of 21 for Atlanta.

The Rockets also had their team MVP of less than 5% of the season so far having a splendid game. That’s right Alperen Sengun had 29pts on 11-15 shooting, 6-8 FT, and 1-1 from 3pt range. He added 9rbs, 9ast, 6stl, and sadly only 1blk, so no chance of a 5×5 game. Sadly he did have 6 turnovers, but the Rockets were, again, utterly generous with turnovers tonight, with no one but the usual suspects Fred VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, and of course, Jabari Smith posting clean assist to turnover numbers. Steady Freddy didn’t just get his first turnover of the season, he got his second tonight, he was 5ast/2TO, which would be good for other guards, but not tidy enough for Fred.

Reed Sheppard provided a real spark off the bench, despite not have the same shooting night he did in Atlanta. He still scored 13pts in 24 minutes, and added 4ast to 1TO, along with 2stl. Tonight Sheppard’s impact was being a menace on defense, passing it well, and attacking close outs to score at the rim. He also had a fast break two handed slam off a steal. Ime even smiled and embraced Reed, after one particularly fine stretch of play tonight. It was both heartening, and slightly alarming. It feels like we’re in new territory here.

Jabari Smith had 16pts on 6-13 shooting, 2-6 3pt, 12rbs, 5ast to 1TO, 1stl, 1blk. I’ll say it again, I think he’s having a break out season. His attacks were decisive, his passes came quickly, (and with one amusing exception of a full court hit ahead to Sengun that somehow worked despite being a duck,) were also on target.

Amen Thompson had something of a blah game for him, and only played 28 minutes. So, too, with Kevin Durant, who only played 30 minutes, and was not in the closing lineup.

Tari Eason had one of his “magic wand” games where he was at times the best player on the floor. He went 13pts/9rbs/2ast/1To/3blk.

The Rockets had long periods of slow, ineffective offense, of turnovers leading to easy Hawks points, and moments of brilliance where they scored, and shut Atlanta down. We are beginning to see the rudiments of actual, consistent offensive structure, and real plays. When the Rockets combine this with early clock attacks, they are very hard to stop so far this season.

There might be some complaints that the Hawks narrowed the Rockets lead late both games. The first time it felt slightly worrisome, tonight it didn’t, for what that’s worth. What’s more important, in a very swingy NBA, where we have already seen at 30 plus point late comeback, the cushion of the Rockets leads have declined but were never lost. That’s a good, if not the best possible, sigh.

The Rockets are 4-0, and you can’t ask for better than that.

Onward to the 1-3 Bucks in Milwaukee (possible WS champs by then) on Wednesday.

DENVER — Stephen Curry didn’t miss a shot, Yaxel Lendeborg turned in his best effort yet and, at long last, the Warriors got into the win column Monday night against the Nuggets.

Curry finished with 24 points on eight shots, Lendeborg asserted himself with a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double and Brandin Podziemski seemed to unlock it all in Golden State’s first winning formula of the season.

The 134-114 win ended a seven-game losing streak for the Warriors in Denver and ensured they wouldn’t get off to a worse start than 2007-08, when they lost their first six games.

In Podziemski’s 33 minutes, the Warriors outscored Denver by 33.

Lendeborg, who carried the load in the first half and upped his aggression after halftime, was a close second, at plus-27 in 31 minutes. Just about the only thing missing from the rookie’s best game of his young career was his 3-point shot, connecting on just 1-of-8 tries from deep.

But the 6-foot-9, 241-pounder more than made up for his cold shooting night by getting to the foul line 13 times and, importantly, sinking 12 of them. Lendeborg collected a game-high 12 boards, including four on the offensive end that helped the Warriors to 23 second-chance points.

He put an exclamation point on his performance late in the fourth quarter, catching a lob pass in transition from De’Anthony Melton, slamming it home and letting out a guttural yell. 

Curry checked out for the final time with 8:04 still to go and the Warriors leading 111-91.

After starting the season 0-for-12 from 3, Georges Niang drained back-to-back shots from deep to put the Warriors ahead to begin the second quarter, and they pretty much never looked back. Golden State fell behind by as many as eight points in the first quarter but never trailed for the final 27:40.

The Warriors entered halftime up four, despite Curry attempting just one shot from the field — a 3-pointer that found nothing but net after officials waved off an old-school 3-point play. 

It wasn’t until Curry and Lendeborg both got going at the same time that the Warriors pulled away for good. Curry poured in 17 and Lendeborg added a dozen as Golden State turned a 60-56 halftime lead into a commanding 100-84 advantage by the end of the third.

In a welcome twist, it was Golden State’s supporting cast that set up Curry to stick the dagger in the second half.

We were due for a nailbiter. Unfortunately, this one didn’t go our way.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had to pull out all of the stops to keep this game close after a torrid 36-26 third quarter by the Cleveland Cavaliers, though the Wolves ultimately suffered their first defeat of the season in an overtime thriller. After splitting the season series 1-1 last year, this game had all the makings of a tight contest.

Circumstantially, this game was not set up for Minnesota to succeed. The Wolves were playing on the second night of a back-to-back after their first and only home game of the season thus far. The crisp offensive showings of the previous three wins seemed to go away as the game went on, as tired legs and sloppy play became the norm in the second half of the game.

Some could call it a “schedule loss.” While not entirely false, I think that may be a bit superficial.

Some poor decision-making and questionable foul calls would stand to doom the Wolves, though they fought through adversity and still almost came up with the win. It’s a tough loss to stomach, without a doubt, but this game provided some good early-season warning signs and key areas for the team to clean up.

Scars of the Old Wolves Come Roaring Back

A disaster of a third quarter. Poor officiating decisions and even worse reactions to those calls. Letting a usually unheralded player torch you from beyond the arc. That’s the brand of Minnesota basketball that I am unfortunately all-too familiar with.

In my last postgame recap, I’d made a comment about how the Kawhi Leonard-less Toronto Raptors were a team that would have, in past seasons, given the Timberwolves fits. The comment section told the tales of the “scars” that we as fans carry in regards to these aforementioned tropes. The Cleveland Cavaliers are a great team, of course, but this felt like a winnable game against an Eastern Conference finalist just a season ago. Minnesota just got bit too sharply by the scars of the past.

As mentioned earlier, Cleveland won the third quarter 36-26 as the Timberwolves squandered a 10-point halftime lead to go into the final frame all knotted up at 86. When the starting unit was in, they looked sluggish and out of sorts. Tired legs can be blamed for this, sure, but the hero-ball and sloppy turnovers turned from a brief trend into the offensive identity of the team for the rest of the game. Anthony Edwards made a ton of shots to keep the game competitive, though contributions from the rest of the roster continued to fade away.

I had also mentioned in our Canis Hoopus opening night predictions that we will need to see how this Timberwolves team deals with adversity and allowing opponents to go on runs. After tonight’s game, the jury is still out on that point.

Minnesota also made superstars out of a couple Cavaliers bench players. Rookie Meleek Thomas was electric from beyond the arc en route to a 16-point performance on four of five shooting from deep in just 19 minutes of play. Jaylon Tyson was a team-best +15 in just 20 minutes. Once their shots started falling, the Cleveland Big Three trio of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley decided to follow suit. It was all downhill from there.

What has typically followed the hero-ball motif of the Timberwolves is the increase in foul calls against them. Jaden McDaniels saw his fouls rapidly increase to the point of fouling out early in overtime. His technical foul was a much-deserved denigration of the officials after a slew of questionable decisions, though the moral victory doesn’t do much for the wins column. 

Minnesota lost its composure and paid the price for it. It’s that simple. Failure to execute loses games. The Wolves will have to regroup and figure out how to better themselves before the next match.

LaMelo Ball’s Lack of Impact

This was the first game of the season where LaMelo Ball was a total net-negative. He finished with a meager 11 points, zero rebounds, six assists, and seven (!) turnovers across 31 minutes of play. While the rest of the Timberwolves starters were positive in their BPM, Ball finished at a -10. That’s just not good enough.

While I was evocative in my praise for his performance in the last game, it would appear that tonight’s version of Ball is the one that the naysayers were warning us about. He appeared ill-prepared for the big moments in this game, often forcing passes or shots that had no business being executed in these crucial late-game scenarios. The turnovers were backbreaking. His passes were off the mark. He hoisted up some truly ridiculous shots that had no chance of going in.

It’s a fine line to walk in regards to what Ball should take away from this game moving forward. He’s at his best when he is playing free and loose, though that seeming lack of discipline is something that he should have the wherewithal to rein in when he sees that it isn’t working. We’re still early enough in the season that Chris Finch will likely have a long leash for LaMelo to try different looks and approaches. However, if performances like this become anything close to a norm in big games against better opponents like the Cavaliers, Finch will have to take a tougher approach about Ball’s decision-making and overall approach.

One poor performance in the first loss of the season isn’t enough to hoist the red flags. However, these are the issues that the team will need to clean up throughout the course of the season.

Beringer Shines

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Wolves. Obviously, Ant stole the show with his electric and efficient 47-point performance. However, it’s starting to look like Tim Connelly’s gamble on Joan Beringer is going to pay off big time.

With every passing game, Beringer is looking more and more capable to step into the rotation and aptly fill the shoes of Rudy Gobert. He’s everywhere on the court. When he’s not flying in for rebounds, he’s flying in for sensational blocks or highlight-worthy dunks. Beringer spends a lot of time flying. He’s got the juice.

Beringer’s 17 minutes of play saw him shoot 100% from the field (six for six) to score 12 points, snag seven boards, and pick up two blocks. That’s a ton of production for a backup center in that limited amount of playing time, and many could make the case that he deserved more down the stretch. 

While there isn’t a ton of room for Beringer to earn more minutes at the time, there is a world where Finch could attempt to give Beringer more minutes by cutting into the playing time of Trey Lyles. Converting another center to power forward is not necessarily the most ideal, but the lack of production that the Timberwolves are getting from Lyles could cause the coaching staff to reconsider their rotations.

With considerably more upside residing within Beringer, it may make sense for the team to extend his leash a bit. He’ll continue to have growing pains and still needs to work on defending without fouling, though his linear improvement would suggest that he will be handling more responsibilities sooner rather than later. 

82-0 may be out of play, though it’s 81-1 until it ain’t.

Game Highlights

Up Next

The Timberwolves will have a day to rest before returning back to Minnesota for a two-game homestand, beginning with a matchup against Stephen Curry and the 1-3 Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, October 28th. The game tips off at 7:00 PM CT on DAZN-MIN and NBA League Pass.

The final buzzer sounds with a final score of 105-110, as Utah’s comeback effort fell short in the dying moments of this contest.

It’s a minor miracle that the Jazz were within striking distance at all down the stretch, as the Grizzlies took a 16-point lead in the final two minutes of the third quarter and buried the Jazz under a wave of momentum. To make matters worse, Utah was left without their two best players and veteran leaders, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., both of whom left the game in the first half and did not return.

Markkanen doubled over in pain after a collision on a screen, his wrist pinned between the screener and his teammate and bending awkwardly. He did not return and could hardly manage his pain on his walk to the locker room, stopping and leaning over in agony.

Jackson was in the wrong place at the right time, as a tumbling Grizzly landed on his calf and bent his knee awkwardly. He was quickly removed from the game despite an effort to fight through the pain; he didn’t return either.

The Utah Jazz are losing big men like a cloud loses water; when it rains, it pours. Sending both Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. to the locker room in the first half is a nightmare scenario for the winning-minded Jazz, compounded by pre-existing injuries to Utah’s frontcourt depth in Jusuf Nurkic and Jaxson Hayes. That’s the bad news. The good news? Another certified Mo Bamba sighting (TM) has been reported in Salt Lake City.

Bamba was exceptional when Will Hardy called his number, posting an immaculate stat line while locking down Utah’s interior defense. 110 is the lowest point total Utah has allowed all season, and that’s thanks in large part to Bamba’s 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 29 minutes of burn. It can be easy to forget that Bamba was once a lottery pick — he reminded the Delta Center tonight.

Hammer slams, airborne denials, and more dish deflections than an ungrateful baby at their own birthday party, Bamba made his presence known and hardly looked like Utah’s fourth option at center. He was critical in bringing the Jazz back within striking distance in the late game.

Darryn Peterson still has a lot of growing to do, but he played well in critical moments of this contest.

Still a rookie determined to make his mark while on the floor, once he decides he wants to shoot the ball, there’s little that can change his mind. He forced the issue regularly down the stretch, but I’m encouraged by his aggression. Unafraid of the moment, he wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. Peterson is still finding his rhythm in the NBA (5-for-18 from the field tonight), but he put constant pressure on Memphis’ interior defense and was a friendly bounce or two away from erasing the Grizzlies’ lead late.

And I would be remiss not to acknowledge the contributions of Ace Bailey and Keyonte George, the two youngsters who just keep on rowing, even when the life raft meets a storm.

Ace posted another double-digit rebounding night (4 on the offensive end) and never takes a play off without the ball in his hands. It’s strange how seemingly every pre-draft drawback has been absolutely false about Bailey as a pro. Hard-working, selfless, and gritty, Will Hardy hasn’t been able to keep his second-year wing off the floor because he makes winning plays consistently and reliably.

And Keyonte plays basketball like a seasoned veteran. He led all scorers with 26 today, finishing through contact and getting to the foul line when his teammates couldn’t find the center of the rim. Adding 6 assists to his season total, George was able to control possession without giving the ball away (only 2 turnovers).

Assuming Markkanen and JJJ miss extended time, the keys to the pickup truck are in Keyonte’s hands. Utah’s success will be dependent on how far he can lift the injured roster. Tonight, the Jazz couldn’t close the gap in time, but Bailey, George, and Mo Bamba kept them within reach.

Calvin Barrett is the Associate Editor for SLC Dunk and a Utah Jazz columnist for the Daily Herald and Standard-Examiner. Originally from Springville, Utah, he currently writes from his desk in Japan.

The Dallas Mavericks (2—2) defeated the Miami Heat (0-4), 113-109, on Monday night in Miami, picking up their second win of the season. Cooper Flagg led the Mavericks with a huge double-double — 29 points and 11 assists. That’s not all he did, but we’ll get to that later.

It was an impressive win for this new-look Mavericks team. Flagg dominated the game late, but it truly was a team-effort to get this one over the finish line. Various Mavericks across the board contributed both offensively and defensively.

Let’s get to the numbers:

1: Number of other players to post Flagg’s stat line against the Heat

Cooper Flagg was masterful with 29 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, five steals, and three blocks. Only one other player in NBA history has posted a stat line like Cooper’s, and it was James Harden, according to Mavericks PR.

This means Flagg is the only teenager to ever post a stat line like the one Flagg had tonight. Flagg has had some outstanding games in his young Mavericks career, but this felt like an early career-defining performance. Yes, Flagg has dropped 50- and 40-point games, but Flagg was special tonight with how well-rounded his performance was — the eight combined steals and blocks is insane, to go along with the 11 assists. Flagg was everywhere against the Heat, setting up his teammates early in the first half and then dominating the final minutes to close out the win.

15: Walter Clayton Jr. scoring

The Mavericks new two-way guard had a career-night against the Heat, with 15 points in 17 minutes on 6-of-7 shooting. Clayton was fearless against the Miami defense, not shy to pull to the trigger when the defense sagged to pay more attention to Flagg or other veteran threats.

Clayton also had four assists and quietly has nine assists and only two turnovers in his last two games. The Mavericks staff might have to figure out what to do here, as Clayton only has so much NBA availability this season as a two-way player. He seems like a rotation guy for now.

22: Combined steals, blocks for the Mavericks

Dallas finished with 11 steals and 10 blocks, a huge number of splash defensive plays against a physical Heat roster.

The Mavericks defense is inconsistent, highlighted by the lack of true, ball-stopping, point-of-attack defenders on the roster. But where the team might like high-level individual defensive talent, they’re starting to make up for that with some havoc-causing team defense.

Dallas has a big and long roster, and it feels like coach Dusty May and his staff are taking advantage of that fact. Dallas might have defensive sequences where guys get lost off ball or give up an easy transition opportunity, but then will flip that around and swarm a ball handler in the paint, chipping down with active hands to cause deflections.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers erased a 15-point deficit to squek out a 127-125 overtime win over a quality Minnesota Timberwolves team.

Three stars of the game

First star: Anthony Edwards

47 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks

Edwards is a professional scorer. He has the athleticism and explosive first step to wreck defenses anytime he puts the ball on the floor. And now that he can play off-ball more with the addition of LaMelo Ball, defenses aren’t able to load up on his side of the court as easily as they have in previous seasons.

That scoring was on display when the Timberwolves needed it most. Edwards poured in 11 points in the fourth quarter to help send this game to overtime, and then threw in 11 more points in the extra frame. He missed a three that would’ve tied it up at the end of overtime, but this was still a fantastic outing.

Second star: Donovan Mitchell

26 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals

Mitchell wasn’t the best shooting guard on the court, but he was good enough to pull the Cavs across the finish line. He made big shots when the team needed it, took care of the ball, and dished out seven helpers, which included two nice lobs to the bigs.

It was a quality performance.

Third star: James Harden

22 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals

This has been a difficult start of the season for Harden. He’s mostly gotten to his spots on the floor, but hasn’t been able to consistently convert. That continued through the first half tonight as he went 1-for-6 from the field, which included missing some point-blank looks.

Things might’ve been worse defensively. Minnesota’s guards hunted mismatches against him and took advantage when they got them.

Yet, Harden hung in there.

The Cavs turned the game around when Harden did. He got the ball rolling by pouring in eight points in the third quarter. Then in the fourth, he registered seven points and four assists — which included two helpers on three-pointers — and he recorded the game-tying field goal with 10 seconds left to help send the game to overtime. Harden followed that up with five points in the extra frame and put the game away at the free-throw line.

This was a rough start from Harden. Maybe the Cavs don’t fall behind by 15 if Harden is better in the first half. That said, this team had no chance of completing this impressive comeback if Harden doesn’t step up as he did.

The Cavs offense is built on protecting the ball, putting pressure on the rim, and spraying out to shooters when the defense collapses. They need Harden at his best to do that. This was a nice reminder of how good the offense can be when he’s playing well.

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Dud of the game

LaMelo Ball

11 points, 6 assists, 0 rebounds, 7 turnovers

Turnovers were the difference in this game. Cleveland’s starting backcourt combined for just four giveaways. Minnesota’s combined for 11 — which is one more than the Cavs had as a team. Ball was the main culprit here with seven turnovers. On top of that, Ball provided nothing as a rebounder and wasn’t much of a threat as a scorer.

Edwards just needed one more teammate to help him close out this game, and Ball was missing in action for large stretches. This was a departure from Ball’s first three games with the Timberwolves.

Cavaliers who deserve shoutouts

Meleek Thomas

16 points on 6-of-10 shooting

Getting your first-ever NBA minutes against one of the hottest teams in the league is a tall task, but Thomas handled it well. He came in and made an immediate impact as an off-ball scorer, which is something neither Craig Porter Jr. nor Tyrese Proctor could do in the first two games.

More importantly, Thomas held his own defensively. He did a good job of getting his hands in passing lanes, and he forced Ball into a traveling violation. Thomas’s teammates credit him for getting them going in this one.

“It’s very rare to ride the coattails of a rookie,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t have energy, we’re flat, we’re playing the wrong way, we weren’t doing the right things. For him to be the spark in his first game of the year is not normal.”

This was a solid debut for the second-round pick. Thomas showed he’s worthy of rotation minutes in the short term at the very least. The Cavs don’t complete this comeback without his efforts.

Peyton Watson

15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals, 1 assist

This was the first time we got to see how the ideal version of Watson could really help the Cavs.

Offensively, Cleveland trusted him to initiate more actions, particularly whenever Minnesota showed ball pressure on one of the starting guards. This allowed Watson to attack some off the dribble, and more importantly, alleviated some of the responsibilities on Cleveland’s overburdened backcourt.

Watson was solid defensively. His weak-side rim protection was much needed on a night that Minnesota was able to continually get into the paint. That said, Watson struggled to stay in front of Edwards at times, although I’m not sure anyone in the league could’ve stayed in front of him on a night like this.

“At the end of the day, Ant’s Ant,” Mitchell said. “But making it tough on him, that’s what Peyton did all night. We ended up getting the stops we needed most, and that’s truly all that matters.”

Overall, this was a clear step in the right direction for a player who has struggled to find his place in a new starting lineup in his first two games.

Play of the game

Plays like this show how impactful Thomas can be. He thwarted one action and eventually ended a defensive possession on one end, then created an easy basket on the other with his speed and hustle. Sequences like this go a long way for someone we know is a skilled scorer when he has the ball.

Quote of the game

“Just stay ready, and your moment will come cause you can’t really keep a star in the closet for too long.”

– Meelek Thomas on how he was able to stay ready despite playing in his first two games.

Stat of the game

The Cavs were in the 94th percentile for offensive turnover percentage.

Turnovers have been the biggest issue plaguing the Cavs in their first two games. It wasn’t a problem tonight as they surrendered possession just 10 times. They won the points-off-turnover battle 21-8.

This game will be remembered for Meleek Thomas’s debut

Thomas had an exceptional start to his NBA career. He made a high impact as a scorer and defender against a title contender in each of his stints off the bench. Debuts like that are rare from second-round picks.

We’ll find out in time what this means for Thomas’s role this season. One good game doesn’t mean he will be a permanent member of the rotation or that he’s going to develop into a high-quality player. That said, it’s difficult not to be encouraged after a night like this.

“I think we definitely got lucky with him being able to come to us,” Mitchell said of Thomas. “I tell him he has set a high precedent for himself, but I’m excited for him. We’re excited, and he was a big part of why we ended up getting this win.”

To say it with the words of long-time Pistons PA announcer John Mason: “Deeeeeetroit basketball”!

As annoying as that catchphrase is for everyone outside of Michigan these days, it doesn’t come close to the irritation the Knicks’ 0-3 start has gifted the orange and blue fanbase. And make no mistake about it: Even if their foes from the Motor City come into town shorthanded, they will be quite a handful for the Bockers. And above all, annoying.

Saying that about an opposing team might rub plenty of them the wrong way, but not the Detroit Pistons, who are probably smiling ear to ear when they hear that characterization. They absolutely revere the fact that it’s anything but a cakewalk playing against them and that their vaunted defense can make many a star think twice about that profession he once chose many moons ago. Sure, it’s not fun to be carved up by jumbo-sized combo guard Cade Cunningham in the high pick-and-roll, but it might be even less enjoyable to have the likes of Ron Holland II, “Bball Paul” Reed or Javonte Green slamming into you on the baseline with bad intentions. As our Knickerbockers surely know from quite a few battles in the last couple of years.

Knicks face shorthanded Pistons team

If you think that the good guys catch a bit of a break with the Pistons missing mammoth center Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, and maybe even newly acquired sharpshooter Isaiah Joe, you might very well be right. But you might also end up like the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night. Yes, VJ Edgecombe and Joel Embiid weren’t in that episode of the soap opera “Bothering Love,” but LeBron and company surely thought that they could hang with a team giving minutes to someone named Tolu Smith. It turned out they couldn’t, as Detroit dominated the game from start to finish with physical, menacing defense, high intensity, and very good spacing on the offensive end.

As great as Ausar Thompson is as a defender, his outside shooting still makes Josh Hart on a bad week look like Louie Dampier out there. What the Pistons lose in defensive intensity gets picked up by the collective, yet on offense they actually gain a lot of punch with more opportunities for Duncan Robinson, Kevin Huerter, or Daniss Jenkins. Robinson has been especially hot to start the year, shooting over 53 percent from downtown on close to ten attempts. That presence makes it that much harder for opponents to guard against Cade Cunningham. As if that wasn’t hard enough already.

The Pistons superstar hasn’t really changed from previous years – lots of points, rebounds, and assists, yet also a lot of turnovers (16 in 3 games). One can have nightmares of him going up against the smaller New York backcourt defenders, and it would be warranted. The obvious solution is to put OG Anunoby on Cunningham, and I’m sure the Knicks coaches have thought of that already, as they have done in the past. The problem? Cunningham is elite in directing the pick-and-roll and works diligently to get premium defenders off his back so that he can attack smaller ones in the midrange area.

Where has all the Knicks magic gone?

In Thompson’s absence, the Knicks will see a lot of Daniss Jenkins next to Cunningham on Tuesday night. The backup guard has a knack for stepping up whenever he is called upon as a starter and did so against Philadelphia as well with 18 points. Other than that, the Pistons have gotten good play so far from John Collins (15.0 points, 7.7 rebounds), who has replaced former Pistons mainstay Tobias Harris at power forward this year. The versatile big is thriving in Detroit’s high-effort system, has a solid finishing touch, and provides decent switchability.

It won’t change the fact that Detroit isn’t a particularly big team without Duren in the middle or Thompson on the wing. They make up for it with physicality; they claw, fight, scrap. It surely seems like the last type of opponent New York would want to see right now, as they are clearly in a funk and would kill for some actual offensive rhythm. The champions might soon start asking every passerby near Madison Square Garden if they have seen the lost magic somewhere between 31st and 33rd Street that made their playoff run last year, well, magical. They themselves sure didn’t look like they could find it right now against Orlando.

But that’s the beauty of the NBA – you usually get a chance to write a different script pretty quickly. How does “Knicks beat last unbeaten team in the East for their first win” sound to you? A little long, but I’d take it. Surely sounds better than that John Mason chant.

Game Details

Who: New York Knicks (0-3) vs Detroit Pistons (3-0)
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Time: 7 PM ET
Place: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV: NBC
Follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky

Injury Report

Jalen Duren (hamstring) and Ausar Thompson (ankle) are out; Isaiah Joe (hip) looks to be a game-time decision. Jose Alvarado, with his own ankle issues, isn’t as lucky for the Knicks and will definitely miss the contest.