The New York Knicks will hit the road to take on the Detroit Pistons at the Palace at Auburn Hills on Tuesday.
The Knicks (1-1) are coming off a home victory against the Memphis Grizzlies where the team’s starting lineup collectively put together a great performance, combining to score 76 of the team’s 111 points. Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony led the way, scoring 21 and 20 points respectively, and the two lead the way for New York in the scoring column through the first two games of the season. On the other end of the spectrum, Joakim Noah has not managed to do much of anything on the offensive end, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a positive contributor for this Knicks team, as he currently leads the team in total assists (10) and rebounds (16) through the first two games of the season.
Noah will have a tough matchup down low on Tuesday when he faces up against one of the best centers in the league in Andre Drummond, who is off to a monstrous start to the season, averaging 16.0 points and 16.3 rebounds in the team’s first three games. Noah’s ability to limit Detroit’s big man on the boards will likely be a major determining factor Tuesday night.
As for the rest of the Pistons (2-1), they’ve managed to get off to a solid start without starting point guard Reggie Jackson, who is expected to miss at least six weeks with left knee tendinitis. Ish Smith has been thrust into the starting point guard role with Beno Udrih filling in as the backup, and together, the two have filled in at the position admirably, averaging a combined 19.0 points and 11.6 assists to start the season.
Both teams currently rank in the bottom third of the NBA in terms of scoring, so look for Tuesday’s showdown to potentially be a low-scoring, defensive affair.
