After a strong showing during NBA All-Star Weekend, the Detroit Pistons return to action Thursday night against the New York Knicks.
Here are three questions for the 40-13 Pistons – the best team in the NBA by winning percentage at .755 – as they navigate the final two months of the regular season.
1. Can Pistons withstand tough schedule with Isaiah Stewart suspended?
The bulk of Stewart’s seven-game suspension following last week’s brawl in Charlotte will be served post-All Star break. He will miss their next six games through March 1, including Thursday’s road game Knicks and next week’s home games against top teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jalen Duren will also finish his two-game suspension by sitting out the Knicks game. The Pistons will be without their “Dawg Pound” duo during a critical stretch featuring two of the top four teams in the East and the top-two teams in the West. However, Duren and Stewart both will be back for road rematches against the Cavaliers and Spurs the following week.
The Pistons will lean on Paul Reed in the meantime, who recently proved once again he’s among the best, if not the best, third center in the NBA. He played the final 18 minutes of their win over the Hornets and stepped up on both ends, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, two steals and a block.
“B-Ball Paul” followed with one of his best performances of the season in their 113-95 blowout of the Toronto Raptors, tallying 22 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks.
“P Reed is one of the most unsung guys in all of this,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said before their win in Toronto on Feb. 11. “He’s proven that he’s been, as a starter some places sometimes, a backup for sure, as a big in this league who comes in and instantly gives you impact.
“He’s elite with his hands defensively, comes up with steals, deflections, blocked shots. Offensively his ability to finish around the rim, make standstill 3s. He adds a level of energy and versatility to us and then every time.”
2. What can Pistons get from Kevin Huerter?
The Pistons’ trade deadline acquisition hasn’t played significant minutes since he arrived Feb. 4, but he’s knocked down shots in garbage time. Huerter scored eight points on 4-for-6 shooting in eight minutes during their 38-point home win over the Knicks, and tallied nine points in 21 minutes against the Raptors.
It’s tough to project how many minutes are available for Huerter on a roster already comfortably 11 players deep. But he’s a well-rounded offensive player – his Cleaning the Glass profile shows he’s a strong interior finisher and 3-point shooter from the corners. He moves the ball well without turning it over. At worst, he can help the team sustain injuries as an insurance option.
“There’s just so many different ways that you can use him,” Bickerstaff said Feb. 9. “He’s a really good playmaker, you can use him as a second-side pick-and-roll or touch action guy to get to the paint, make the right reads. He understands how to use screens and get open for his shots. But he’s a complete basketball player. I think that’s the fun part …”
3. Can Cade Cunningham solidify NBA MVP case?
The two-time All-Star is firmly in the Most Valuable Player race as the best player on a team that could finish with the league’s best record, after going 44-38 a year ago. Cunningham exits the break averaging 25.3 points, 9.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. The only other players averaging at least 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds this season are Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić.
Of the three, Cunningham is the most complete and engaged defender, and an important piece of the league’s second-best defense. He has been the most durable, playing in five more games than Dončić and eight more than Jokić thus far. And his team has the most wins with 40, more than the injury-riddled 35-win Denver Nuggets or 33-win Los Angeles Lakers. Also, the Pistons are 3-0 against those teams.
Assuming the Pistons maintain their dominance down the stretch, Cunningham will have an airtight case for MVP. It remains to be seen if voters will feel that way, though. The latest NBA.com MVP ladder ranks Cunningham fourth, behind first-place and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić and Dončić.
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 3 questions for Pistons post-All-Star break, Isaiah Stewart suspension
Reporting by Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
