Pistons’ Robinson, LeVert, Huerter Available For Game 7
May 17: For the second consecutive game, Robinson, LeVert and Huerter have been upgraded to available after initially being listed as questionable, tweets Patterson.
May 16: 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 finals vs. New York.
Pistons Notes: Game 6 Win, Bench, Duren, Cunningham
The Pistons shook off their Game 5 collapse with a convincing road victory in Cleveland on Friday night, forcing a decisive Game 7 in Detroit on Sunday night. It’s the fourth time this postseason the Pistons have delivered in an elimination game.
“They just don’t quit,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of his team, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “The resolve that they have, the belief that they have in one another. They just have the ability to bounce back mentally where they don’t hang on to things.”
The Pistons pulled away by holding the Cavaliers to 29% shooting in the second half and 39% overall.
“I just think you got to look at the backgrounds of this group,” guard Daniss Jenkins said. “I’m not supposed to be in this position according to everybody in the league. I just think we’re special. We just want to defy all the odds. We not taking [anything] from [anybody]. We know it’s us against the world.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Reserves Marcus Sasser, Paul Reed and Caris LeVert delivered in dynamite fashion in Game 6, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press notes. They combined for 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Sasser, who had been out of the rotation, played 18 minutes and Detroit outscored Cleveland by 27 points during his court time. “That was the plan,” Bickerstaff said. “We have so much depth. Obviously, foul trouble changed a couple of things for us, but we just trust these guys and trust the depth that we have and that they can go out and make an impact. Guys like Sass, in the two years we’ve been here, has proven that when his number’s called, he’s prepared and he goes out and can give us buckets, defend at a high level. I thought he was great tonight. Up and down the roster, I thought we had great production, great intensity.”
- All-Star center Jalen Duren, the subject of heavy criticism during this postseason, posted a double-double in Game 6 with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He added three blocks, equaling his total from the first five games of the series. “My confidence never wavered in myself. I know what I can do. I know what I can be and try to keep it rolling,” Duren said, per Joe Reedy of The Associated Press. “I’m playing my best basketball when I’m being assertive and picking my spots. I think early on I was just getting a groove.”
- The Pistons are looking forward to having a raucous atmosphere for Game 7 at Little Caesars Arena, Cade Cunningham told Bob Wojnarowski of the Detroit News. “It’s gonna be a madhouse in there, the crowd’s gonna come to play as well,” Cunningham said. “They want to insert themselves in the game, so it’s gonna be a fun environment.”
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 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.
Pistons’ LeVert Available, Huerter Out For Game 4
6:35 pm: LeVert has been upgraded to available but Huerter has been ruled out again, according to Patterson (Twitter link).
2:54 pm: The Pistons have two reserves listed as questionable for Monday’s pivotal Game 4 against the Cavaliers. Caris LeVert is dealing with a right heel contusion and Kevin Huerter is on the injury report due to a left adductor strain, according to Coty Davis of the Detroit News.
LeVert’s minutes have fluctuated quite a bit during the postseason. He’s played as much as 25 minutes but also logged a DNP-CD in Game 7 against Orlando in the opening round. He has played an average of 13 minutes against Cleveland in the first three games of the second-round series and recorded six points and four steals in 17 minutes in Game 3.
Huerter played steady minutes as a reserve in March and April during the regular season. He came off the bench in the first four games against Orlando but was injured after a three-minute stint in Game 4.
Both players were present for the morning shootaround on Monday, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
Pistons Notes: LeVert, Jones, Division Title, Ivey
After signing a two-year, $28.9MM contract with the Pistons last summer, Caris LeVert has had the worst statistical season of his career. His 7.5 points and 19.5 minutes per game are career lows, as is his 41.8% shooting percentage from the floor. The 31-year-old, who has made 223 career starts, is also on track to finish a season without starting a single game for the first time since he entered the league in 2016.
“It has been up-and-down for me all season,” LeVert told Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News. “Obviously, everyone wants to play well. Everyone wants to play a lot of minutes. For me, the most frustrating part has been all about my game and minutes. But, it is what it is.”
Health issues have contributed to LeVert’s struggles. He underwent surgery on his right wrist shortly before training camp, delaying his preparation for the season, then battled knee problems. He has also dealt with a more unusual health issue since then, as he informed Spencer Davies of RG.org.
“I had a weird, like, vertigo sickness for like a month-and-a-half; I just got over that a few weeks ago,” LeVert said. “So this year’s been kinda weird for me, but I feel really good right now. As far as preparation, I think just doing more as far as table work, stretching on my own, getting my sleep, diet — just to another level.”
While it’s been a somewhat disappointing year for LeVert on an individual level, he tells Davies that he has made an effort to be a positive locker-room leader as one of the elder statesmen on a younger roster. The fact that it has been a hugely successful season from a team perspective has also allowed him not to worry as much about his own struggles.
“We control our own destiny from now until the end of the season. I think it has been amazing for what we have done as a team,” LeVert told Davis. “We are building in the right direction.”
We have more out of Detroit:
- Pistons two-way player Isaac Jones has nabbed NBA G League Player of the Month honors, according to the league (Twitter link). Playing for the Motor City Cruise, Jones averaged 29.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while shooting 68.4% from the field in March. The second-year forward began the season with Sacramento and was claimed off waivers by Detroit when the Kings cut him in November. He was waived by Detroit in early February, but the team brought him back on a two-way deal a week later.
- While winning the Central division is far less important than claiming the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference would be, the Pistons were still pleased about clinching their first division title since 2008, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “You take pride in understanding how hard it is to do any of those things in this league,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You take pride in the fact that you have a group of young guys, young men who collectively have grown and achieved certain milestones. It’s a part of the process, and we expect more. But you just respect how difficult it is to do any of those things in this league. It is a big deal for our guys and this organization to get ourselves back in that position and in position to do more, because you can’t win the level you want to win at if you don’t take those steps.”
- Bickerstaff also spoke on Tuesday about Jaden Ivey, whom he coached for a season-and-a-half before the former No. 5 overall pick was traded to Chicago in February. Ivey was waived this week due to “conduct detrimental to the team,” according to the Bulls. “I know how it’s been extremely difficult for him as far as the way he was playing, the injuries, trying to make the comeback and trying to overcome that. I don’t think we can overlook the human aspect of these things and how that impacts people and their decisions,” Bickerstaff said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “Having said that, I also believe the NBA is one of the most inclusive environments in pro sports. and it’s a genuine thing that celebrates different ethnicities, heritages, sexual preferences, whatever it may be. The NBA brings people together. … This environment should be an environment that supports that and gives people the opportunity to be the best version of themselves no matter who that is or what they believe, or what choices they may make that don’t impact or infringe on other people.”
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.”
Pistons Notes: Depth, Cunningham, Jenkins, Sasser, More
Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has used an extended rotation for much of the season, with 11 players currently on the roster averaging at least 16.8 minutes per game. As Hunter Patterson of The Athletic details, that depth will be tested in the short term, with two of the team’s most important players – Cade Cunningham (collapsed lung) and Isaiah Stewart (calf strain) – currently unavailable.
“We’re so comfortable with the depth and the guys that we have, and they’ve proven they can help us,” Bickerstaff said earlier in March. “Typically, in the past, nine is a great number (for a playoff rotation). But, s–t, we’re struggling to get away from 12. Because there are so many guys that have played for us this year that have helped us win. So, there’s going to be some situational decisions.”
In those comments to the media a couple weeks ago, Bickerstaff went on to single out Paul Reed, Marcus Sasser, and Daniss Jenkins as reserves who have made the most of opportunities to play rotation roles. As Patterson points out, all three of those three players – along with Kevin Huerter – have received DNP-CDs at times when Detroit is closer to full health, but they’ll likely be relied upon for regular minutes with Cunningham and Stewart out.
In addition to looking to help the Pistons maintain their spot atop the Eastern Conference, players like Reed, Sasser, Jenkins, and Huerter could also be making their cases for places in the team’s playoff rotation based on how they perform in the next couple weeks, Patterson adds.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- When they confirmed today that Cunningham is dealing with a collapsed lung, the Pistons ruled out the star guard for two weeks. How much more time might he miss beyond that initial timeline? That remains to be seen, but Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press spoke on Thursday to Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos – a pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins – about what causes a collapsed lung, what the recovery process looks like, and what needs to happen before Cunningham returns. “The big thing I would make the case of is recognizing a collapsed lung is serious and what’s frustrating for an athlete is they’re going to feel good the second it re-inflates and they’re going to want to go back out there,”Galiatsatos said. “What we need to be mindful of is the lung is going to still take a few weeks to fully heal, because it is an injury because the tissue got torn. You want it to not just heal over, you want it to be fully secure.”
- Patterson, Jay King, and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic take a look at how Cunningham’s health condition will impact the Eastern Conference playoff race, with all three reporters predicting that Detroit will hang onto the No. 1 seed for the rest of the regular season — the Pistons currently have a 3.5-game lead over second-place Boston. Cunningham’s ability to return before or during the first round of the postseason could be crucial, The Athletic’s trio notes, since there are some dangerous teams near the bottom of the East’s playoff picture.
- In a separate story for The Detroit Free Press (subscription required), Sankofa looks at three areas of concern for the Pistons to shore up in the final 14 games of the regular season. In addition to outside shooting and finding the right balance between shooting and defense, one of those areas Sankofa highlights is “non-Cunningham ball-handling.” In the wake of the star guard’s diagnosis, there should be plenty of opportunities to go around for players like Jenkins, Sasser, Huerter, Ausar Thompson, and Caris LeVert.
Injury Notes: Murray, Gordon, LeBron, Cunningham, Giannis
Nuggets fans can breath a sigh of relief: Jamal Murray‘s left ankle sprain isn’t serious. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), the star point guard is expected to be listed as questionable for Monday’s matchup in Oklahoma City and is considered day-to-day.
Murray sustained the injury in the second quarter of Friday’s blowout home loss to New York and was unable to return. Head coach David Adelman said after the game Murray was “really sore” but typically bounces back quickly from ankle injuries, which proved prescient in this case.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- While Aaron Gordon wasn’t happy with his performance in his return to action on Friday, he’s “grateful” to be playing again and says he’s in a good spot physically after missing 17 straight games with a right hamstring strain, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Gordon has actually missed 36 total games as a result of right hamstring issues — he originally strained it on November 21, returned for 10 games, then aggravated the injury on Jan. 23. “I’ve gotta stay on top of it. But I play without worry,” Gordon said when asked about the risk of re-injury. “When you’re worried about an injury out there, that’s usually when it happens. So I feel great. My body feels good. It’s just the timing and the pace of the game that needs to come back to me now, but I feel good.”
- Lakers forward LeBron James missed his second consecutive game on Sunday vs. New York due to a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. ESPN’s Malika Andrews reported (Twitter video link) during the game that James’ absence was more due to the foot injury than his bruised elbow. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer is considered day-to-day, per Andrews. Deandre Ayton and Maxi Kleber are both active Sunday after previously being sidelined with knee and back injuries, respectively.
- After missing Saturday’s loss to Brooklyn with a left quad contusion, Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been upgraded to probable ahead of Sunday’s contest at Miami, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Cunningham, a fifth-year guard, has played in 55 of Detroit’s 62 games so far this season. Caris LeVert (left wrist sprain) has been ruled out for the second of a back-to-back, Patterson adds.
- The Bucks will be without their best player on Sunday, as Giannis Antetokounmpo (right calf injury management) won’t play against Orlando on the second of a back-to-back, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Forward Kyle Kuzma is questionable to suit up due to a thoracic spine contusion.
Pistons Share Injury Updates On Harris, Duren, LeVert
The Pistons have issued updates on a trio of injured players, making the following announcements on Saturday (Twitter link):
Forward Tobias Harris has been diagnosed with a left hip sprain and will be reevaluated in two weeks.- Center Jalen Duren has a sprained right ankle and will be reevaluated in one week.
- Guard/forward Caris LeVert remains day-to-day due to right knee inflammation, but won’t travel to Cleveland for Sunday’s game vs. the Cavaliers as he continues to receive treatment.
The timeline for Harris, who already missed Thursday’s contest against Miami, suggests he’ll remain sidelined for a minimum of five more games, starting with intra-conference showdowns against the Cavs on Sunday and the Knicks on Monday. His absence may extend beyond that five-game stretch, since there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready to return when he’s evaluated on January 17.
Harris, 33, has been a full-time starter since arriving in Detroit as a free agent during the 2024 offseason. In 23 games this season, he’s averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 27.4 minutes per night, with a .455/.333/.848 shooting line. Due to his expiring $26.6MM contract, the 15th-year forward is considered a potential in-season trade candidate.
While Harris’ recovery period may last longer, Duren’s absence figures to have a greater impact on the Pistons’ lineup in the short term. The 22-year-old is enjoying a breakout season ahead of his restricted free agency in 2026, with averages of 17.9 PPG and 10.6 RPG through his first 31 games (28.4 MPG).
Reigning Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month Isaiah Stewart will likely take on a larger role with Duren out, and Paul Reed is a capable backup too. But Detroit has been much better with Duren on the court (+8.9 net rating) than off it (+2.4) so far this season.
Javonte Green, Jaden Ivey, and Marcus Sasser are a few of the other players who figure to see minute bumps while the Pistons’ injured players get healthy.