#2 - Pistons@Knicks - 7:30pm ET

[MortSahlfan]

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[MortSahlfan]

Stew is listed as QUESTIONABLE

What a horrible time this had to happen. There's no way they go on a 21-0 run with Stew out there.

[Canadafan]

Sad about Stew. Might be best to rest him up for game 3 Thursday. Maybe we get lucky without him and steal game 2. If that happens then you can rest him until Sundays game4. That would be huuuuge
If we play him tonight, that knee might hamper him rest of series
I would imagine stew will threaten to kick everyone's ass if they don't let him play tonight though so I fully expect to see him out there guttin it out

[Snakebites]

That's rough. No sense pretending it isn't.

I do not think it's at all accurate to place the 4th quarter collapse at the feet of his injury, but he's undeniably valuable in this series.

[MortSahlfan]

That's rough. No sense pretending it isn't.

I do not think it's at all accurate to place the 4th quarter collapse at the feet of his injury, but he's undeniably valuable in this series.

Basketball is a game of rhythm/confidence/streakiness. I think Stew would disrupt that.

[Snakebites]

That's rough. No sense pretending it isn't.

I do not think it's at all accurate to place the 4th quarter collapse at the feet of his injury, but he's undeniably valuable in this series.

Basketball is a game of rhythm/confidence/streakiness. I think Stew would disrupt that.

I'm sure it contributed. But the notion that this injury single handedly caused us to lose 21 straight points (a period in which both our defense and our OFFENSE ground to a screeching halt) is nonsense.

We were up by 8 in the fourth quarter. It takes more than losing a role player to transform that into a 13 point deficit in 4 minutes. They had resilience. We lost ours. And that resilience isn't emboddied by one person. That's just narrative.

And I make this case not because I think it particularly matters when talking about last game. What happened happened. But it will color how people view THIS game if Stewart doesn't play (which looks pretty likely- a guy being "questionable" on the day of the game rarely ends with them playing).

[Uncle Mxy]

We were up by 8 in the fourth quarter. It takes more than losing a role player to transform that into a 13 point deficit in 4 minutes. They had resilience. We lost ours. And that resilience isn't emboddied by one person. That's just narrative.

We had a truly boneheaded start to the 4th quarter. The warning signs were there.

[MortSahlfan]

That's rough. No sense pretending it isn't.

I do not think it's at all accurate to place the 4th quarter collapse at the feet of his injury, but he's undeniably valuable in this series.

Basketball is a game of rhythm/confidence/streakiness. I think Stew would disrupt that.

I'm sure it contributed. But the notion that this injury single handedly caused us to lose 21 straight points (a period in which both our defense and our OFFENSE ground to a screeching halt) is nonsense.

We were up by 8 in the fourth quarter. It takes more than losing a role player to transform that into a 13 point deficit in 4 minutes. They had resilience. We lost ours. And that resilience isn't emboddied by one person. That's just narrative.

And I make this case not because I think it particularly matters when talking about last game. What happened happened. But it will color how people view THIS game if Stewart doesn't play (which looks pretty likely- a guy being "questionable" on the day of the game rarely ends with them playing).

Agree to disagree. I don't think it's a coincidence we were up 8, and Stew doesn't play in the 4th quarter. I don't think there would have been any significant run with Stew in the game. Certainly not 21-0. When runs happen, a team starts playing nervously, self-consciously, jacking up quick shots, and after NY made a few shots, 6-0 run, the basket gets bigger, and that confidence carried on. No way in hell would the Knicks have a dozen layups in the 4th.

[TPA]

That knee was already sore as we ended the regular season. Stewart hadn't played in 9 days before the game 1 loss to NY. That knee isn't going to be much better after 2 days' rest going into game 2. Stewart is cooked, and the Pistons' path to postseason success becomes that much more difficult.

[NYPiston]

That's rough. No sense pretending it isn't.

I do not think it's at all accurate to place the 4th quarter collapse at the feet of his injury, but he's undeniably valuable in this series.

The Knicks got to the rim at will once Stew was out. Not saying that the Pistons would have won the game with him as there were many reasons why they blew the lead but he certainly would have played a part in helping to stem the tide, him being out was absolutely a factor.
'
It also raises a valid question about Duren's role long term because he's still pretty atrocious at defending the rim and the pick and roll. Can't trust him in the clutch.

[Snakebites]

That's rough. No sense pretending it isn't.

I do not think it's at all accurate to place the 4th quarter collapse at the feet of his injury, but he's undeniably valuable in this series.

The Knicks got to the rim at will once Stew was out. Not saying that the Pistons would have won the game with him as there were many reasons why they blew the lead but he certainly would have played a part in helping to stem the tide, him being out was absolutely a factor.
'
It also raises a valid question about Duren's role long term because he's still pretty atrocious at defending the rim and the pick and roll. Can't trust him in the clutch.

We do have a dilemna at the center position moving forward.

We have one guy who's an ideal fit with Cade offensively but cannot be relied on defensively night in and night out. We have another who is elite defensively but is bad enough offensively that it's questionable whether he'll ever be a starter. Both are absolutely better players than they were last year but it's unclear which is the starting center on a contending level team or if either could be.

But that's a question to answer another day.

In the short term yeah, having Stewart out hurts. I still think we should have been able to hold it together and win without him at the point where he went out. We're an inexperienced team and we handled that situation like an inexperienced team. And that's OKAY.

[Fennis Dembo]

Think I'll comment in the game thread tonight instead of in the series thread like I did in game one.

[MotownMadness]

I think we win this one

[joedumars1]

Brunson initiates contact foul on ausar? Maybe im biased

[MrBigShot]

Cade's gotta get rolling man. We have no chance if he's going to play like it's pre-season

[Cowology]

Brunson continues to cook Ausar. We may need to try something different.

[Uncle Mxy]

Cade is not off to a good start.

[Absolutia]

Announcer seems more annoying than usual. Maybe it's just me.

[Fennis Dembo]

One of these days Duren is going to learn to set screens without fouling, right?

[Cowology]

Alrighty...time for Basketball Paul to earn that contract.