Pistons at Nets: Duren Still Out, Isaiah Joe a Game-Time Call

The Pistons head to Barclays Center on Friday night with a chance to pad their lead at the top of the East, and the lineup they bring is shaped by two injuries that have shaped their early season. Jalen Duren is still out. Isaiah Joe is a true game-time decision. Brooklyn, meanwhile, arrives 0-4 and is missing its starting point guard. Both teams are opening their NBA Cup play, but the Nets are the only winless team in the Eastern Conference, and that gap in the standings makes this a game Detroit should expect to win.

Duren's absence stretches on

Duren remains sidelined with a right hamstring strain, an injury he picked up in the second game of the season. Friday will be his fourth straight missed game. The All-Star center is expected to be out for at least another week, and the team will re-evaluate him a week from today to set a clearer timeline for his return. That's the detail to watch. A hamstring injury rarely resolves on a schedule that matches a team's preferred rotation, so Detroit's medical staff will be measuring progress day to day rather than promising a date. For the Pistons, Duren's absence means the frontcourt has to carry more of the load on the glass and at the rim, and the coaching staff has to decide how much minutes to give players who are being asked to fill bigger roles.

Isaiah Joe is closer, but not clear

Joe has missed the last two games after a hard fall in the third game of the season against Philadelphia. He went down after a dunk in transition and was quickly ruled out with a hip contusion. Hip contusions can linger longer than their name suggests, mostly because players tend to test them in warmups and shootarounds before they know how they'll hold up in contact. That's why the pregame signals matter.

The encouraging sign came from the morning shootaround at Barclays Center, where Joe was getting shots up, according to team insider Omari Sankofa II. Still, he remained listed as questionable as of 4 p.m. ET, so the final call will come close to tipoff. My read is that the Pistons would prefer to have him available, but they won't push him into a game if there's any doubt about how the hip responds to contact.

If Joe is available, he should play around 20 minutes off the bench. That's a role built on shooting and floor spacing, two things Detroit needs from its wings and reserves while Duren is out. A healthy Joe pulls defenders away from the paint and gives the offense a release valve when the ball gets stuck. If he sits, the minutes shift to Daniss Jenkins and Kevin Huerter, who will get extended run. That's a manageable outcome, but it changes the spacing, and the bench becomes less predictable when the second unit is trying to create its own offense.

Outside of Duren and Joe, the Pistons have no other players on their injury report. That's a meaningful piece of good news for a team that has already had to adjust its rotation, because it means the rest of the roster is healthy enough to absorb whatever workload comes its way.

Brooklyn's point guard spot is in flux

The bigger lineup change belongs to Brooklyn. Starting point guard Egor Demin will miss at least one week after sustaining a right leg bone bruise in Tuesday's loss to the Celtics. Demin is a second-year player, and losing him in the middle of an 0-4 start removes a player the Nets were counting on to organize the offense.

In his absence, rookie point guard Mikel Brown Jr. is expected to get the start. The sixth overall pick has real upside, and his tools are the reason Brooklyn drafted him where it did. But his early numbers and results have been rough, which is about what you'd expect from a 20-year-old playing the most demanding position on the floor in his first NBA season. Pressure on a young point guard rarely comes from one bad game. It builds when the turnovers pile up and the half-court offense stalls, and Brooklyn's situation makes that risk higher.

That's where Detroit can gain an edge. If Brown is handling the ball with a defense that is set and ready, the Pistons can force him into uncomfortable reads and make him prove he can get the offense into rhythm without his usual veteran support. Brooklyn's ability to win its first game of the year may depend on whether Brown can solve that puzzle early.

Noah Clowney is the only other Nets player on the injury report. He's questionable with an illness, and whether he plays could change how Brooklyn uses its frontcourt depth. Brooklyn is facing an uphill battle, and one more availability question would only add to the pressure.

What to watch Friday

The first thing to track is Joe's status at tipoff. If he plays, the Pistons have a shooter who can stretch the floor while Duren is out, and that changes how Detroit spaces the court in the half court. If he sits, the bench rotation becomes the story, and Jenkins and Huerter will need to produce without much margin for error.

The second is how Detroit handles Brown Jr. on defense. Brooklyn's young point guard will be the one making the first decisions for the Nets, so every possession that starts with him is a chance for the Pistons to set the tempo and dictate what kind of game this becomes. Winning comfortably would give Detroit a useful result in the NBA Cup and keep the team's position at the top of the conference firmly in view. The Nets need a first win, and the Pistons need to make sure a rookie-led lineup doesn't turn a manageable opponent into a close game.