The New York Knicks (17-14) head to the Little Caesars Arena for a Friday night NBA matchup against the Detroit Pistons (17-14).
New York is coming off an impressive 102-93 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday. They won despite Kristaps Porzingis putting together a miserable performance as he went 0-11 from the field and finished with one point. Michael Beasley heard M-V-P chants at Madison Square Garden as he carried the Knicks in the second half on his way to a season-high 32 points.
The Pistons' three-game winning streak came to an end on Wednesday when they defeated by the score of 110-93 to the Dallas Mavericks.
Detroit allowed the Mavericks to connect on 14 threes and shoot 53.3 percent from the field. The Pistons were led by Anthony Tolliver who scored 18 points while Stanley Johnson and Ish Smith had 16 and 15 off the bench respectively.
Projected starting lineups
New York: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Courtney Lee, SF - Lance Thomas, PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter
Detroit: PG - Reggie Jackson, SG - Reggie Bullock, SF - Tobias Harris, PF - Anthony Tolliver, C - Andre Drummond
Leaders
New York: Points - Kristaps Porzingis 24.5, Rebounds - Enes Kanter 9.8, Jarrett Jack 5.9
Detroit: Points - Tobias Harris 17.5, Rebounds - Andre Drummond 14.8, Assists - Reggie Jackson 5.1
Injury report
New York: Out - Tim Hardaway Jr.
(leg)
Detroit: Out - Avery Bradley (groin), Jon Leuer (ankle)
What to know for Friday's game
The Knicks' struggles on the road have been well-chronicled this season as they currently sit at 2-9 in away games (compared to 15-5 at home). Most of the losses haven't been all that close either as eight of the nine have been by double figures.
While Kristaps Porzingis struggled mightily on Thursday, he performed well in the previous meeting against Detroit earlier this season scoring 33 points on 11-20 shooting. He had strong showings against the Pistons last season as well averaging 24 points in four games with a 51.4 field goal percentage.
Courtney Lee has been in a bit of a shooting funk recently in a season where is currently averaging career-highs in a multitude of categories.
He is just 24-69 from the field in his last six games including a 2-9 outing on Thursday.
Regular season history between Knicks and Pistons
The Knicks and Pistons have met 375 times in the regular season with New York holding a 206-169 advantage in the win column.
The two teams have alternated wins and losses in each of their last ten head-to-head matchups. They have met once this season on October 21 when the Pistons prevailed by the score of 111-107.
The Pistons have won the last three meetings in Detroit although this will be the first time they face the Knicks at their new home of Little Caesars Arena.
