Colossal tests and familiar faces await Pistons on the other side of All-Star break

The Detroit Pistons should enjoy the All-Star break, because as soon as it is over, they are back to business with their toughest stretch of schedule this season. 

The Pistons have a 5.5 game lead on the Celtics and won three in a row going into the break despite missing both Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart to suspensions. 

They’ll start the home stretch of the season shorthanded, and it won’t be easy, as they will be facing a brutal eight-game stretch that will test how they stack up against the best teams in the NBA. 

Detroit Pistons schedule: Finals preview and facing off against Jaden Ivey 

The Pistons start this stretch on the road against the Knicks, and we know they’ll have no problem getting up for that one. Detroit has eviscerated the Knicks in two meetings so far this season by a combined 68 points, and the first win was without Duren. 

They’ll be without Duren and Stewart for this one, so if the Pistons can steal a win in Madison Square Garden, they’ll have to feel pretty good about how they stack up against the Knicks. 

Detroit will then travel to Chicago to face the recently traded Jaden Ivey, who will surely want to show his old team they made a mistake. The Bulls stink overall but do have a winning record at home, so this is not one to take lightly. 

The Pistons then return home to face the Spurs, Thunder and Cavaliers in what will be their toughest test of the season. Duren will be back for these, but Stewart will still be out, which is a tough loss considering these teams are all huge. 

The Thunder and Spurs are the two best teams in the Western Conference, and the Cavaliers are one of the league’s hottest, riding a five-game winning streak and undefeated since acquiring James Harden. They have pulled themselves up to the 4th seed and are a team that should concern the Pistons, as they are finally starting to look like the team that one 64 games last season. 

Detroit will then hit the road to take on the Magic, a team that always gives them problems and then road games against the Cavaliers and Spurs again. The Pistons will be missing Isaiah Stewart for all but two of these games. 

The schedule then lightens up considerably with some games against the tankers, so if the Pistons can emerge from this 8-game stretch with a winning record, they will feel great about themselves moving forward. 

Every team has these stretches of the schedule, but the Pistons happen to be doing theirs without a key player, so we’ll see what they are made of and possibly get a preview of the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals in the process.