The Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks have a budding rivalry that the NBA should have embraced on one of its biggest days, a mistake they probably wish they could undo.
The Pistons, who are currently leading the Eastern Conference by 3.5 games over the Knicks, will not be playing on Christmas Day, which is one of the biggest days of the year for the NBA.
If the NBA had known the Pistons were going to be this good, they might have changed this scheduling mistake, especially when they had the chance to promote two classic franchises on the come up.
Instead, we will get the Knicks vs. Cavaliers, a game no one cares about, especially since the Cavs are a disappointing 7th seed right now. Cleveland was obviously rewarded for their successful 64-win season last year, which is fair, but it was also shortsighted on the part of the NBA, who blew an opportunity by leaving the Pistons out.
Detroit Pistons schedule: Christmas day, rivalries and the face of the NBA
Cavaliers vs. Knicks may end up being a great game, but the NBA still blew a golden opportunity here.
Both the Pistons and Knicks were terrible forever but have diehard fanbases who always stick with their teams, and have large and vocal online presences. Part of the development of the Pistons' rivalry with the Knicks has been between fans online.
The other part is that they played a heated and physical playoff series last year that was one of the more competitive and entertaining in the entire playoffs. It seems like the NBA should have wanted to build off that momentum by featuring these teams on a marquee day.
Instead, the two teams won’t play until January 5th, which just seems like a missed opportunity to keep the momentum of that rivalry going on the court and not just on social media.
You also have two of the most popular “face of the league” type guys in Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson, which is an easier sell to casual fans on Christmas than Brunson vs. Evan Mobley or Donovan Mitchell.
Because of all of the player movement, rivalries are harder to come by in the NBA than they were in the past, when teams often had the same players for a long time and met each other several years in a row in the playoffs.
The NBA finally has a great rivalry to build upon, but passed for a game that just doesn’t have the same animosity and competitiveness that a Pistons vs. Knicks game would have. Oh well, at least I can relax on Xmas day, but it does seem like the NBA shot itself in the foot here.