Pistons’ Robinson, LeVert, Huerter Questionable For Game 7
The Pistons have listed guard/forwards Duncan Robinson (low back soreness), Caris LeVert (right heel contustion) and Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) as questionable for Sunday’s do-or-die Game 7 against Cleveland, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic (Twitter link).
All three players were also listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 6 win in Cleveland, which evened the second-round series at three games apiece. Robinson, LeVert and Huerter were all upgraded to available prior to that victory.
Huerter reportedly received an injection prior to Game 6 after aggravating his adductor injury, which had caused him to miss two-plus weeks. He didn’t end up playing on Friday, but Robinson and LeVert both played significant roles with the Pistons facing elimination for the fourth time this postseason.
Robinson, who was limited in Game 4 due to the back issue that caused him to miss Game 5, recorded 14 points (including converting four of his seven three-pointers), two rebounds, two assists in 20 minutes. The veteran shooting guard has been a key floor spacer and secondary play-maker in his first season in Detroit. He came off the bench in Game 6 for the first time this season (Daniss Jenkins got his second straight start).
LeVert, meanwhile, had eight points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 29 minutes on Friday. The veteran wing is facing his former team with a chance to advance to an Eastern Conference final matchup vs. New York.
Pistons’ Robinson, LeVert, Huerter Available For Game 6
May 15: All three wings have been upgraded to available, according to Patterson (Twitter link). The team announced that Daniss Jenkins, who started Game 5 with Robinson out, will continue to start tonight (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Jamal Collier reports (via Twitter) that Huerter re-injured his adductor muscle in Game 5, when he only played three minutes. The impending free agent received an unspecified injection to play on Friday, league sources tell Collier.
May 14: The Pistons have listed guard/forwards Duncan Robinson (low back soreness), Caris LeVert (right heel contustion) and Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) as questionable for Friday’s Game 6 in Cleveland, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
Detroit is facing playoff elimination on Friday. After winning the first two games of the second-round series against the Cavs, the Pistons have dropped three straight contests and will have to win on the road to save their season.
Robinson was outstanding in the first three games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, making at least four three-pointers in each contest while averaging 17.0 points, 3.3 steals, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 33.7 minutes. He converted 58.3% of his three-point looks in those games.
The 32-year-old tried to play through his lower back issue in Game 4, but he was clearly hampered, recording as many fouls (four) as points and only attempting two shots in 29 minutes. The Pistons were outscored by 19 when he was on the court, compared to a positive plus-minus mark in each of the first three games.
The Pistons certainly could’ve used a healthy Robinson in Game 5, which they lost in overtime after blowing a late lead in regulation.
Despite dealing with an injury of his own, LeVert’s minutes have increased the past two games with Robinson either less than 100% or out of the lineup.
As for Huerter, he returned to action in Wednesday’s Game 5 after missing a little over two weeks with the adductor strain. He suffered that injury in Game 4 of Detroit’s first-round matchup vs. Orlando.
Pistons Notes: Game 5, Thompson, Robinson, Huerter, TV
Tied at 103 in the final seconds of Wednesday’s matchup with Cleveland, the Pistons thought Ausar Thompson would be heading to the free throw line with a chance to with the game after he was knocked to the floor as he and Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen scrambled for a loose ball. However, no foul was called on Allen, with crew chief Tony Brothers explaining after the game that he and his fellow officials viewed the contact as incidental as both players went after the ball. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff disagreed.
“He fouled Ausar,” Bickerstaff said, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). “It’s clear. He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End-of-game situation, that’s tough.”
The no-call sent Game 5 to overtime, where the Cavaliers secured the victory and took control of the series — they’re heading back to Cleveland with a 3-2 lead and a chance to close out the series on Friday.
As disappointing as that last-second officiating decision was, the Pistons have to shoulder the brunt of the blame for the loss, Sankofa writes. Detroit held a nine-point lead with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but they missed their last six shot attempts from the floor in regulation, allowing the Cavs to fight their way back.
“You’ve got that type of lead, man, in the playoffs,” Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins said. “We knew what game this was, how important it was. We can’t lose that win. We’ve gotta be better.”
The Pistons fell behind 3-1 in their first-round series vs. Orlando and won the next three games to advance. Bickerstaff remains confident in his team’s ability to pull off a similar comeback in this series.
“You’re going to have to choke the life out of this team,” he said. “We’re not gonna go down without a fight, we’re not gonna go down without kicking, punching, grabbing, clawing, and that’s just who we are. And we’ve been in this position before. And we were able to work our way through it. I expect our guys to be ready mentally to go out and compete at a high level, and bring this thing back here (for Game 7).”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Trajan Langdon and the Pistons’ front office have faced some criticism for not making a move to add a more dangerous No. 2 offensive option to complement Cade Cunningham. Detroit’s lack of reliable scorers besides Cunningham was on display in Game 5, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic, who argues that the team’s ceiling is limited until those offensive shortcomings are addressed. As Patterson details, no team has been in more “clutch” games during the playoffs than the Pistons, but they have an offensive rating of just 91.5 in clutch time across those eight contests, with Cunningham (22 points on 7-of-14 shooting) outscoring the rest of the team (21 points on 8-of-26 shooting) in clutch situations.
- The Pistons were missing sharpshooter Duncan Robinson on Wednesday, as Jamal Collier of ESPN writes. Robinson sat out due to a lower back injury after initially being listed as questionable. Veteran wing Kevin Huerter, sidelined since Game 4 of the first round due to a strained left adductor, was active for Detroit but played just three minutes and went scoreless.
- The Pistons have a new local media television rights deal in place with Scripps Sports, the team announced in a press release. Beginning next season, WMYD TV20 Detroit will be the new home for Pistons games, which will be broadcast on free, over-the-air television. “This move is for our fans. They have been huge all season and throughout this playoff run. Their energy and support have lifted our team and helped fuel our resurgence,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “It’s a new era of Pistons basketball and we want to make sure that more people in Detroit and throughout Michigan can be part of the journey.” The Pistons were one of the 13 teams advised by the NBA to seek a new local TV deal with Main Street Sports Group headed for insolvency.
Pistons List Robinson, LeVert, Huerter As Questionable For Game 5
The Pistons have listed three players, including starting shooting guard Duncan Robinson, as questionable for Wednesday’s pivotal Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
Robinson, the team’s main three-point threat, is dealing with low back soreness. Robinson attempted just two field goals and scored four points in 29 minutes during Game 4 on Monday, when the Cavaliers evened the series at two games apiece. He had averaged 17 points in the first three games of the series while knocking down a total of 14 three-pointers.
Reserves Caris LeVert (right heel contusion) and Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) are also listed as questionable. LeVert was listed as questionable for Game 4 and not only played but produced one of his best games of the season. He scored a team-high 24 points in 31 minutes and added four rebounds and three assists.
Huerter has missed the past seven postseason games after appearing in the first four contests of the opening round series against Orlando. He was also considered questionable for Game 4 before being downgraded to out.
Central Notes: Bulls, Lloyd, Nori, Reed, Pistons, Furphy
The Bulls have reportedly narrowed down their list of candidates for their head of basketball operations job to Matt Lloyd, Bryson Graham, Dennis Lindsey and Dave Lewin. Of those four finalists, Timberwolves general manager Lloyd is considered the frontrunner, a source confirms to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Lloyd, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs and got his NBA start with the Bulls, could be hired within the “next several days,” Cowley writes. Like Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Cowley has heard Lloyd has a head coach in mind if he lands the Bulls job — Wolves top assistant Micah Nori.
Lloyd may not be the only significant front office addition the Bulls make, according to Cowley, who suggests Lewin could become the general manager and head of the analytics department. Lewin is currently an assistant GM with the Celtics.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Backup big man Paul Reed was an unlikely playoff hero for the Pistons during their second-half comeback in Orlando on Friday, writes Shawn Windsor of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff turned to Reed, who had been buried on the depth chart behind Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, in the third and fourth quarters with the season on the line, and Reed delivered six points, six rebounds and three blocks in 11 minutes. “Anytime his number is called,” Cade Cunningham said, “he’s ready to go, comes right out there and imposes himself on the game. I don’t think there is any situation in basketball where you bring him in, and he’s not going to bring some type of productivity to the floor. … He’s like a safety blanket for us. He’s won us so many games with his intensity.”
- Pistons wing Duncan Robinson had high praise for Reed after Friday’s Game 6 victory, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “I’ve said this before but I’ve never been around a teammate like him,” Robinson said. “The way he handles his work every day behind the scenes and prepares for a moment that honestly, he doesn’t know is going to come … he shows up every day with spirit and works his tail off.”
- Cunningham credited the Pistons‘ defensive intensity for their epic comeback, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Detroit outscored Orlando 55-19 over the final two periods after trailing 60-38 at halftime. “It’s our defense,” Cunningham said. “When we’re guarding the way that we’re supposed to be, it’s really hard for them to score on us. And there’s just been too many stretches throughout this series where we haven’t guarded the way we supposed to. So, we’ve allowed them to have life. We’ve allowed them to move and get their shots and all that stuff. But whenever we really lock in on our defense, it’s tough for them to score on us, and we know that.”
- Johnny Furphy showed signs of growth in his second season prior to suffering a torn ACL in February, according to Tony East of Circle City Spin. “I think I was finding my feet when I was getting some more [playing time]. I was really starting to settle in. So I’m happy I had that experience,” the Pacers forward said. “And I think, obviously, I learned a lot from that. But now it’s just a matter of building on that, not taking any steps backwards.” The 21-year-old Australian said there’s no specific timetable for his return from the major knee injury, East adds.
DeAndre Jordan Named 2025/26 Teammate Of The Year
Veteran center DeAndre Jordan appeared in just 12 games as a member of the Pelicans this season, but he has been named the 2025/26 Teammate of the Year, the NBA announced today (Twitter link).
The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award recognizes “the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment to his team,” per the league.
Pelicans players and interim head coach James Borrego spoke repeatedly over the course of the year about the impact that Jordan had on a young roster despite his extremely limited role.
“To see the growth of our young team, DeAndre had a massive impact on that,” Borrego said near the end of the regular season. “He brought professionalism every day. A voice every day. A respect for every drill, every practice and every moment together.”
The Teammate of the Year award isn’t voted on by media members. A panel of league executives select the 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, while current players vote on the winner. Players receive 10 points for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth place.
Jordan just narrowly won this season’s vote ahead of Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday, who has won the award three times and was the last Pelicans player to claim it back in 2020. Jordan earned 66 first-place votes to Holiday’s 39, but the Blazers veteran nearly made up the difference by accumulating more second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-place votes than the big man.
Here are this season’s full voting results, according to the NBA, with the player’s point total noted in parentheses:
- DeAndre Jordan, Pelicans (1,445)
- Jrue Holiday, Trail Blazers (1,437)
- Jeff Green, Rockets (1,420)
- Garrett Temple, Raptors (1,223)
- Pat Connaughton, Hornets (672)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (659)
- Jayson Tatum, Celtics (651)
- De’Aaron Fox, Spurs (640)
- Duncan Robinson, Pistons (523)
- Jaylin Williams, Thunder (471)
- Desmond Bane, Magic (445)
- Marcus Smart, Lakers (424)
Jordan’s win snaps a seven-year streak of a point guard being named Teammate of the Year. From 2018-25, Holiday won it three times, Mike Conley won twice, and Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry won once apiece.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Stewart, Weaknesses
The Pistons are on the verge of becoming the seventh No. 1 seed in NBA history to lose a first-round series to a No. 8 seed. They’re down 3-1 after Monday’s 94-88 road loss to the Magic.
Turnovers, three-point shooting and Jalen Duren‘s lack of production have all been factors in their poor showing. Cade Cunningham is averaging 29.5 points but also 6.8 turnovers per game. He committed eight turnovers, compared to six assists, in Game 4.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Cunningham said, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “A lot of it was on myself; I was frustrated with my own play. Having numbers, not making plays in transition. Things like that, the things I do best, just not being able to make plays for my team. They killed us on the offensive glass, our defense didn’t hold up. All that stuff. We’re all frustrated with all that stuff. We’ve gotta fix it and come back better.”
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Cunningham’s turnovers are due in part to his teammates not executing their roles, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
“They’re sending a lot of bodies to him,” he said. “We’ve gotta help him by giving him more space, so that he has room to operate. Set screens for him, be a little more physical, get the guys off of him.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Duren struck a defiant tone after Game 4, declaring “I still think we’re the better team” in a video posted by Sankofa. With Game 5 back on Detroit’s home floor, Duren believes a three-game winning streak is well within reach, according to Patterson. “It ain’t over, bro,” said Duren, a restricted free agent after the season. “Teams have come back from down 3-1 so many times. It wouldn’t be the first time in history. We’ve got to keep it one at a time, go protect the crib and keep moving from there.”
- Isaiah Stewart was a defensive force in Game 4, swatting eight shots in just 17 minutes. Should Stewart get more playing time in place of Duren? Stewart told Patterson he’s ready for more action. “I know what I mean to this team, I know what I was drafted here to do and I know I’m built for playoff basketball,” Stewart said. “So I’m just ready whenever my name is called. And whenever my name is called, I’m ready to lay it on the line like I display every single night. At the end of the day, you’ve got to trust the game plan Coach has, and you’ve got to be there for your teammates. It sucks because I want to be out there more because I know what I bring, and I know the impact I have on the game. I know (the Magic) don’t want me out there for a reason. So, yeah, it’s tough. But at the end of the day, (I’m going to) be the best teammate that I can be.”
- The Pistons’ weaknesses have been exposed due to the decision made by top executive Trajan Langdon to not make a big splash at the trade deadline, John Niyo of the Detroit News opines. The lack of a true No. 2 scoring option, or even a proven secondary play-maker, has put too much on Cunningham’s shoulders, Niyo writes, while their floor-spacing shooter in the starting lineup, Duncan Robinson, has been hunted on the defensive end. Those issues have put them on the brink of early elimination.
NBA Announces Finalists For Sportsmanship, Teammate Of The Year Awards
The NBA announced the 2025/26 finalists for a pair of awards on Tuesday, naming the six players who are eligible to win the Sportsmanship Award for this season, as well as the 12 players who are in the running to be named Teammate of the Year.
The Sportsmanship Award honors the player who “best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court,” per the NBA. Each of the league’s 30 teams nominates one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.
The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. This season’s finalists are as follows (via Twitter):
Bam Adebayo (Heat)- Harrison Barnes (Spurs)
- Al Horford (Warriors)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- T.J. McConnell (Pacers)
- Derrick White (Celtics)
Gilgeous-Alexander is the only one of this year’s finalists for the Sportsmanship Award who was also nominated last season. Whoever earns the honor for 2025/26 will be a first-time winner. Jrue Holiday took home the Joe Dumars Trophy a year ago.
Meanwhile, the NBA also announced its finalists for the Teammate of the Year award for 2025/26. According to the league, the player selected for the honor is “deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”
The voting process is similar to the Sportsmanship Award — a panel of league executives selects 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, then current players vote on the winner.
Holiday is a three-time Teammate of the Year, having earned the honor in 2020, 2022, and 2023. He’s the only past recipient who is among this season’s group of finalists.
Those Teammate of the Year finalists are as follows (via Twitter):
- Desmond Bane (Magic)
- Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
- Pat Connaughton (Hornets)
- De’Aaron Fox (Spurs)
- Jeff Green (Rockets)
- Jrue Holiday (Trail Blazers)
- DeAndre Jordan (Pelicans)
- Duncan Robinson (Pistons)
- Marcus Smart (Lakers)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Garrett Temple (Raptors)
- Jaylin Williams (Thunder)
Injury Notes: McBride, Grant, Edwards, Pistons
Miles McBride will return to action for the Knicks on Sunday after being sidelined since January 27 due to a sports hernia surgery, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (via Twitter).
McBride is scoring at a career-best rate this season, averaging 12.9 points per game while hitting a career-high 42.0% of his 6.9 three-point attempts per contest.
His return comes during a key stretch for the Knicks, who are looking to catch the Celtics for the No. 2 seed in the East while playing in Oklahoma City on Sunday and Houston on Tuesday in two of their remaining regular season tests. Entering Sunday, the Knicks trail the Celtics by 1.5 games.
Edwards adds (via Twitter) that McBride will be on a minutes restriction, though he doesn’t specify what the restriction will be. Stefan Bondy of the New York Post adds that Landry Shamet is with the Knicks on their road trip, and, according to coach Mike Brown, is progressing in his recovery from a bone bruise in his knee (Twitter link).
We have more injury notes from around the league:
- According to Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter, veteran forward Jerami Grant underwent an MRI on his calf and will remain without a recovery timeline until he can go through more testing, per Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (via Twitter). Grant said he “felt a pop” in his right calf during the third quarter of Friday’s loss to the Mavericks.
- Anthony Edwards has been upgraded to questionable for the Timberwolves‘ game on Monday, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link). Edwards has missed Minnesota’s last six games with a knee injury, with the team going 4-2 during that stretch. The Wolves currently hold a half-game lead over the Rockets for the No. 5 seed in the West.
- The Pistons have a lengthy injury report for Monday’s game against the Thunder, with Jalen Duren (right knee), Tobias Harris (left hip), and Duncan Robinson (right hip) all listed as doubtful, while Ausar Thompson (right ankle) is questionable. Detroit is already missing Cade Cunningham (left lung) and Isaiah Stewart (left calf).
Pistons Notes: Huerter, Duren, Jenkins, Thompson
Kevin Huerter didn’t play much for the Pistons in the first month after he was acquired in a deadline trade with Chicago, but he has been showing recently why the team wanted him, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link).
The eighth-year wing made his first start as a Piston on Thursday with Duncan Robinson (right hip soreness) out, and he delivered 22 points (on 9-of-14 shooting), three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 34 minutes, which is by far the most he’s played in a game with Detroit (his previous high was 26).
“Kev’s nice, man,” said Jalen Duren. “Just playing against him over the last few years, I’d seen him as just a shooter. Him being here these last couple of weeks, I see he has a lot more to his game.
“He’s a guy who can, if you run him off the line he can get in the paint, make plays, finish. He’s meshed really well with the guys. Just in the locker room, as a teammate, he’s been really cool. I’m excited, man. I’m excited for what he can bring to the team and continue to grow with him.”
It took a while for Huerter to adjust to the Pistons and it remains to be seen how much he’ll play in the playoffs. But the impending free agent is making a case for a postseason rotation spot, according to Sankofa, who points to Huerter’s decision-making as one area in which he excels.
“That’s my biggest strength,” Huerter said. “Playing offensively, ball moves side to side, I’m able to play off of closeouts and get downhill, find guys and then we have Cade (Cunningham) who’s been out a couple of games. There’s been more of an emphasis on playing side to side and guys using the rotations of defenses to help create things.
“JD’s held it down every game inside. Everybody else seems to be pitching in where they can to fill the gaps.”
Here’s more on the Pistons, who are currently the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 53-20 record:
- In addition to Cunningham (collapsed left lung) and Isaiah Stewart (left calf strain), who are out indefinitely, the Pistons were also playing without Robinson and Caris LeVert (right knee soreness) on Thursday. While the team knows it can’t replace all Cunningham provides offensively, Duren, Huerter and Daniss Jenkins are among the players who have stepped in his absence, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Duren is averaging 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 30.4 minutes per game in the five contests since Cunningham went down with the injury, while Jenkins is putting up 19.8 PPG, 8.0 APG and 3.6 RPG in 37.8 MPG over that same span, Patterson notes.
- Detroit has been thrilled with several aspects of Duren’s development this season, Patterson writes. The 22-year-old center, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, had another huge game on Thursday, contributing 30 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks in 31 minutes. His seven assists represented a new season high and tied a career high. “It’s untapped potential being able to use him as a hub, put the ball in his hands and let him make plays,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The growth he’s shown this year offensively has been through the charts. From reading coverages, reading rotations, being able to make the right read at full speed — he’s just having a phenomenal year and continuing to get better right in front of us.”
- After Thursday’s victory, Duren referred to Ausar Thompson as the “Defensive Player of the Year,” according to Sankofa (Twitter link), while Bickerstaff compared the third-year forward to a player who once won the award. “He reminds me a lot, and it may look a bit different, of how Ron Artest used to be when he would defend,” Bickerstaff said (Twitter link via Patterson). “That type of physicality, the feet, the hands, being able to be so disruptive. … I don’t think there’s many guys who can do what Ausar does.”