One of the Knicks’ top Eastern Conference rivals will face a tough upcoming couple of weeks.
The No. 1-seeded Pistons will be without star center Jalen Duren and key forward Tobias Harris for at least one and two weeks, respectively, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
Duren, who is playing like a borderline All-Star at just 22 years old, suffered a right ankle sprain and will be re-evaluated in a week.
He is averaging a career-high 17.9 points per game with 10.6 rebounds a contest.
Harris, who is dealing with a left hip sprain, will be looked at again by team doctors in two weeks.
The veteran wing is averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists this season.
Led by MVP contender Cade Cunningham, Detroit has been the best team in the East through the first two-and-a-half months of the season.
Heading into Saturday’s play, the Pistons sat at 25-9 and two games ahead of the Knicks, who are 23-11, for the best record in the conference.
The two teams will face off on Monday in Detroit in their first matchup of the season.
The Knicks took down the Pistons in six games during the first round of the playoffs last season.
The final four games of the hard-fought series were all decided by a single basket, foreshadowing what could be a budding rivalry between the storied franchises.
