Pistons vs Rockets preview: Twins battle during rivalry week

SB Nation

It’s NBA rivalry week, and twin vs twin has been deemed must-see TV. Ausar Thompson and the Detroit Pistons host Amen Thompson and the Houston Rockets tonight.

Detroit has zoomed through its schedule and

built a comfortable lead over the field in the East. The Rockets are coming off a tough overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last night. They need every W they can get with the West being so tight between the 4th and 7th seed.

Every game is crucial for Houston, but unfortunately for them, Detroit doesn’t take games off, and we want our twin to break the 2-2 tie between the Thompson brothers. This should be another fun national TV game.

Game Vitals

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

How: Prime Video

Odds: Pistons -3.5

Analysis

The masses wouldn’t believe you if you told them the Pistons would reach 30 wins before the Rockets this season. Yet here we are. Detroit is the one seed, best defense besides the Thunder, and has an All-Star starter. The Rockets can’t claim any of those feats.

The Rockets are the 4th seed out West and one of the few teams with a top-five offense and defense, but are they truly contenders?

I use and love numbers, but I can’t get behind the Rockets being a legit top offense, especially in a playoff setting. Houston is efficient from deep, but shoots the 3 even less than Detroit.

Reed Sheppard is their best volume shooter outside of Durant, but he could be unplayable in April. Sheppard has good hands and instincts, but he might get blown by more than anybody I’ve watched this season. Tari Eason is striking it from 3, but he’s definitely a you-have-to-prove-it’s-real type shooter who teams will leave open. The floor will shrink for them. Their outstanding offensive rebounding and Durant’s shot making is their saving grace.

Ball handler wise, who do you really trust on the Rockets? Detroit has some of these same issues (spacing, ball handlers), but at least they have an MVP-level creator on the roster.

As All-Time as KD is, that’s not his forte. A center like Alperen Şengün being the de facto lead ball handler could raise problems due to his lack of shooting. Teams will sag and clog up the spacing for Durant.

On the other end, the Pistons’ defense will translate to any basketball setting. The Rockets are 4th to Detroit’s 2nd, but there’s a 4-point swing between these groups. All elite defenses aren’t created equally.

A high-energy chaotic group that’s on a string travels. The communication travels. Deploying two top-flight Defensive Player of the Year candidates in Isaiah Stewart and Ausar Travels.

Ausar matches up with point guards 31 percent of the time per Bball-Index, but with the Rockets’ No. 1 option being Durant, we’ll see how JB Bickerstaff plays the matchup game. Amen is on the ball the most, but doesn’t operate like a modern point guard.

Jalen Duren and Stew will take the Şengün matchup. Şengün has struggled to finish at the cup. He’s shot a career high 68 percent at the rim, but that’s a lowly number for a big, and especially a “star” big. It won’t get any easier finishing with Detroit’s dawg pound members ready to bite.

Ausar might not have official access to the dawg pound, but there’s no doubt he’s a menacing defender. He’s an A+ all across the board on the perimeter (stats from 12/31/2025 but remain the same today).

Amen hasn’t been that level of a defender, but he’s expanded his game a bit offensively. The shot is the shot, but Amen is 79% at the line (~11% jump). Ausar could take some pointers there, as his poor FT shooting could be something that keeps him off the floor in the postseason, no matter how elite a defender he is.

Shooting aside, point Ausar continues to be a fun wrinkle Detroit can sprinkle in when he’s aggressive. His whip passes become easier to make when he’s a threat to score, and defenders are forced to make a decision. We’ve seen him step up as a ball handler with and without Cade Cunningham, so the New Orleans Pelicans game was not surprising.

The Pistons-Rockets “rivalry” had deeper lore when Jalen Green was a part of HTown. The history between him and Cade made for some anticipated matchups. That debate was settled long ago, but that hasn’t stopped Cade from putting his foot where it doesn’t belong when he matches up with Houston.

Who could forget last year’s slam when he dunked “on all them mfs heads“? Cade’s mentality is an under-discussed aspect of his greatness. He’s a gamer and lets opponents know he’s here to stay.

Detroit has an opportunity to make another statement on national TV. The New York Knicks and Boston Celtics got the belt in front of the whole NBA world, and Houston is next.