Pistons vs. Knicks NBA parlay picks: Short-handed Detroit due first loss and New York first win Tuesday

It's a light four-game slate across the NBA on Tuesday night, but there is an NBC national TV doubleheader. The first game features the unbeaten Detroit Pistons, without injured All-Star center Jalen Duren, visiting the surprisingly winless defending champion New York Knicks. Panic time in Gotham already? It has taken the Knicks five days this season to lose as many games as they did during their historic playoff run last spring.

It's an 8 ET start time in the first of four regular-season meetings between Eastern Conference contenders. There is decent action on Detroit ATS and split on the total of 219.5.

Pistons vs. Knicks NBA same-game parlay

New York money line

Cade Cunningham 20+ points

FanDuel SGP price: +123 (subject to change)

Duren, who signed a $200 million contract extension on the eve of the season after some pretty contentious negotiations with the Pistons, will miss at least two weeks with a right hamstring strain suffered in Friday's win over Miami. Duren dominated in the season opener vs. Boston with 22 points on 8-for-13 from the field along with nine rebounds but was limited to 10 minutes vs. the Heat.

Detroit won in Philadelphia without Duren on Sunday, 106-93, but caught a break in that the Sixers were in the second of a back-to-back and sat Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe. It was a wire-to-wire Pistons victory, and they are the only East team still without a loss.

Paul Reed will see a lot more time while Duren is sidelined and had eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes Sunday. The Pistons dominated the boards, 54-37, but I don't think that's going to be the case tonight or often while Duren is sitting.

And they might be without two other guys tonight in guards Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Joe. Thompson, a starter and 2026 All-NBA First-Team All-Defensive pick who led the league in steals, sat Sunday with an ankle injury. And Joe, acquired in the offseason from Oklahoma City, left the game late in the first quarter due to a hip contusion and didn't return.

Note that this concludes a three-game trip for Detroit and is the front end of a back-to-back. The Knicks could be in a good spot here, then, if that trio is all out for the Pistons. They could use a break, as they're caught up in a bit of an NBA championship hangover at 0-3 following Sunday's 111-102 home loss to an Orlando team missing star Paolo Banchero.

New York blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and Jalen Brunson failed down the stretch, just as he did in the home opener last week against Philly. Brunson was just 12-for-28 from the field Sunday, including 1-for-7 from deep. The confidence of Mikal Bridges offensively looks completely shot as he's averaging 3.3 points per game on 21.7% from the field. Really, the only positive has been Karl-Anthony Towns as he plays for a new contract.

The Knicks are the first defending NBA champions to start 0-3 since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks. A loss Tuesday would tie the 1969-70 Boston Celtics as the only defending champs to start 0-4. New York's season win total has dropped from an open of 51.5 already to 49.5.

"Everyone can say it's early in the season. We can use that as an excuse, but I think the one thing I see is when we get those runs and start to look like the team that we did in the past, we get comfortable," Brunson said after Sunday's defeat. "So we have to continue to put our foot on the gas and execute like we did last year. And we're not going to be the same as last year. That's just human nature."

Backup center Andre Drummond was benched by coach Mike Brown in the second quarter after Drummond was lazy jogging back on defense. James Wiseman took over backup center minutes, and Drummond was none too happy. He was signed in the offseason to replace the departed Mitchell Robinson.

The Knicks might be defending NBA champions, but maybe they wouldn't have been had they faced the Pistons in the 2026 postseason as Detroit dominated the regular-season series in winning all three by double digits. Cade Cunningham averaged 27.3 points and 11.0 assists in the three, while Duren missed them all due to injury or suspension.

In one of those three, Cunningham became the first player in franchise history to put up at least 40 points and 10 assists at Madison Square Garden and only the third player in league history to do so after LeBron James and Allen Iverson. Brunson averaged 23.3 PPG for New York in the series.