Which of the Pistons or Cavaliers is a more favorable opponent for New York? Though I believe the Knicks would win a series against either Detroit or Cleveland, the Cavaliers would present the path of least resistance.
Here’s why.
Regular-season performances mean very little this time of the year, but you can’t ignore how much the Pistons’ physicality bothered New York during the 82-game schedule. Detroit went a convincing 3-0 against the Knicks and, more importantly, held New York to just 90 points in a Jan. 5 meeting and 80 points in a Feb. 6 meeting. Those were the Knicks’ lowest scoring outputs of the entire year (both sides were missing one or two key players in those matchups).
More than the physicality, though, the Pistons have had New York circled since the latter won a thrilling six-game playoff series last year. Detroit has a personal vendetta that the Cavaliers don’t outside of just trying to take down the Knicks for a chance to advance.
On the other side, New York went 2-1 against Cleveland during the regular season, but the Cavaliers won by 15 points in the only meeting between the two teams since James Harden was traded to the Midwest. On paper, Cleveland has more firepower to do damage in a half-court offensive setting against the Knicks as opposed to the Pistons, but it has nowhere near the defensive upside Detroit carries.
The Cavaliers have a defensive rating that ranks last out of the remaining playoff teams, and the Pistons are sitting right behind the Knicks at No. 3. Detroit, at most, usually has just one below-average defender on the court at all times. The same can’t be said for Cleveland.