Pistons center Isaiah Stewart out for 5th straight game against Knicks with knee injury

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart is out for a fifth straight game against the New York Knicks because of a nagging knee injury.

Stewart, who played in the series opener, was ruled out of Game 6 on Thursday night. Stewart participated in the team’s shootaround earlier in the day and coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the five-year veteran has been able to do more on the court each day.

New York did not list any of its banged-up players — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby — on the injury report.

Detroit center Jalen Duren played 25 minutes in Game 1 when Stewart was available and has averaged 35 minutes a game without him in the first-round series.

Paul Reed was the team’s No. 3 center in the regular season, playing in 45 games and averaging fewer than 10 minutes. He has played a larger role without Stewart. The 25-year-old Reed averaged three points and three-plus rebounds in an average of 11-plus minutes in Games 2 through 5.

The third-seeded Knicks won one game at home and two games at Little Caesars, giving them up to two chances to eliminate the sixth-seeded Pistons and advance to the second round to face second-seeded Boston.

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