If the NBA season were to end right now, the Detroit Pistons would play the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
I know a lot of fans want this outcome, as the Pacers are playing well and are seemingly in better health than the Knicks.
Be careful what you wish for, as the Knicks are also playing well, as they have all season, and present just as many matchup difficulties for Detroit as the Pacers do, especially when it comes to Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Pistons are going to have a tall task to beat either of them in the first round of the playoffs, especially after being hit with the injury bug at the wrong time, with all three of Cade Cunningham, Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren all missing time of late.
The Knicks have had issues of their own, as Jalen Brunson only recently returned from injury after missing 15 games himself.
Which begs the question of what is going to happen when these two teams play each other on Thursday, as both teams will potentially have something at stake, but may not want to show their hand against a future playoff opponent.
Pistons vs. Knicks: Who plays, who sits and will eithe team tip their hand?
With both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson only recently returning from their respective injuries, both the Pistons and the Knicks won’t have much time to get them into a rhythm before the playoffs.
Both guys played big minutes in their returns, so they appear to be ready physically, but after missing so much time, will need to shake off the rust, as both guys struggled shooting the ball in their first games back.
They need to get as much run as possible before the playoffs, which makes me wonder how the two coaches are going to handle their upcoming regular-season matchup.
Will they try to get their guys some extra rest, or play them in hopes of getting back to form before the playoffs start? There’s also the reality that they will likely be playing each other in the first round and may not want to give their opponent a full look at what they will face.
The Pistons can potentially still catch the Bucks for the 5th seed, and the Knicks are still within reach of the Pacers, and if that is still true on Thursday, we are likely to see the full lineups.
There will be some gamesmanship from two coaches trying to balance their players’ health and readiness with trying not to give away too much of the game plan for the playoffs, so Thursday’s matchup with New York will be interesting for several reasons.