Pistons vs. Knicks GameThread: Game Time, TV, Odds, and More

The Detroit Pistons play today and I’ve got some good news and bad news as they gear up to face the New York Knicks. The good news is the game is at 1 p.m. ET, which means the lowly Pistons won’t take up an entire evening. Second bit of good news — Isaiah Stewart is available to play! OK, now the bad news. It turns out that while Stewart is back in action, Bojan Bogdanovic is listed as questionable with a non-Covid illness.

If Stewart is back and Bojan is out, it’ll be interesting to see what Dwane Casey does with his lineup. Does he start Stewart at center with Nerlens Noel as his backup or doe she continue to weaponize Hamidou Diallo as the defacto big man in bench units. If he starts just Stewart that means someone else needs to start alongside Saddiq Bey at one of the forward spots. That could be Isaiah Livers or even Kevin Knox, I suppose. I hope he throws caution to the wind and starts both Stewart and Noel and lets the bench just be pure energy and chaos.

The games against the Knicks, including preseason, have not been pretty for the Pistons. They most recently lost 140-110 on Nov. 29 in a game that saw Julius Randle go off for 36 points. They lost by a relatively tight nine points in early November and by 24, surrendering 130 in October. Oh, and they also lost by 23 in the season’s first preseason action. This is the finale between these two squads, and it’d be nice to steal one from the Knicks.

This is Detroit’s final game before setting off to Paris for a “home” game against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 19. Then they don’t play again until Jan. 23 against the Brooklyn Nets. So savor it while you can.

Game Vitals

When: 1 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: Bally Sports Detroit
Odds: Pistons +9

Projected Lineups

New York Knicks (24-19)

Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson

Detroit Pistons (12-34)

Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Nerlens Noel