Duren sidelined by hamstring strain, with Knicks and Nets games ahead

Jalen Duren will miss time with a right hamstring strain, and Detroit's next week includes road games against both the Knicks and Nets. The Pistons announced Sunday that their center will be re-evaluated in two weeks after leaving Friday's game at Miami in the second quarter.

The distinction in the team's statement matters. Two weeks is the interval before another evaluation, not a promise that Duren will be ready to play when it ends. Detroit has not announced a return date in this update.

Duren played only 10 minutes against Miami, according to ESPN's report. He had opened the season with 22 points and nine rebounds against Boston. Last season, his 19.5 points per game were a career high, and he earned his first All-Star selection and a place on the All-NBA third team.

Two New York stops in the next week

The Pistons' official schedule lists the Knicks game for Tuesday, October 27, at 8 p.m. Eastern, followed by a visit to Brooklyn on Friday, October 30, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Both sit well inside the two-week period described in Sunday's medical update.

Detroit has six games scheduled from October 25 through November 4: two against Philadelphia, two against Charlotte and the two New York visits. That is the immediate stretch the Pistons must navigate while Duren is sidelined. The schedule does not establish when he will receive clearance.

The work behind the scoring

Our view: replacing a center requires more than finding his points somewhere else. Rebounding, screening and the possessions around the basket still have to be handled. Detroit can change the rotation, but those jobs remain. Duren's early scoring offers one measure of what is missing, not a complete description of it.

For the Knicks and Nets, this changes the expected matchup. It does not decide either game. For Detroit, the useful next update will be what the medical review establishes, rather than an assumed comeback date drawn from the calendar.