The NBA announced its full Slam Dunk contest slate on Saturday, Feb. 7 — and it didn’t include Jalen Duren.

ESPN reported Monday that the Detroit Pistons’ big had accepted an invite to the dunk contest, but he will settle for the All-Star Game instead. Duren was named an All-Star for the first time last Sudnay, joining starter Cade Cunningham and coach J.B. Bickerstaff in the game scheduled for Feb. 15. 

Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant, Miami Heat wing Keshad Johnson and Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson (a Michigan State alumnus) are the dunk contest participants. Duren exited the Pistons’ game Thursday early with right knee soreness, then missed their win over the New York Knicks on Friday.

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The Pistons did gain more All-Star representation, though, as ex-Pistons All-Star Richard Hamilton (2002-11) will participate in the “Shooting Stars” challenge with Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren and Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes on “Team All-Star,” former Piston Allan Houston (1993-96) will be part of “Team Knicks,” along with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and former Piston Corey Maggette (2012-13) will team up with Duke alumni in Atlanta Hawks star Jalen Johnson and Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel on “Team Cameron.”

The two other Shooting Stars lineups: Team Harper: five-time NBA champion Ron Harper Sr. and sons Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs) and Ron Harper Jr. (Boston Celtics).

Duren has established himself as a rising star for a Pistons team sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings at 36-12, 5½ games ahead of the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. The fourth-year center is averaging a career-high 18 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

Duren’s and Cunningham’s All-Star nods mark the Pistons’ first time with multiple representatives in the game since 2008, when Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace all made the East team as reserves.

2026 NBA All-Star reserves

Eastern Conference

Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons.

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks.

Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks.

Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers

Norman Powell, Miami Heat

Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors.

Western Conference

Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets.

Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder.

Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets.

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns.

Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers.

LeBron James, LA Lakers.

2026 NBA All-Star Game format

The 2026 All-Star Game format will have two teams of U.S.-born players and one “World” team consisting of international players. The three teams will compete in a round-robin tournament with four 12-minute games.

The breakdown, per NBA.com: “In the round-robin tournament, Team A will play Team B in Game 1. The winning team from Game 1 will take on Team C in Game 2, followed by the losing team of Game 1 meeting Team C in Game 3.

“After Game 3, the top two teams by record will advance to face each other in the championship game (Game 4). If all three teams have a 1-1 record after Game 3, the tiebreaker would be point differential in each team’s two round-robin games.”

Pistons in 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend

Cade Cunningham was named a starter in the All-Star Game on Jan. 19, becoming the first Piston picked to start since Allen Iverson in 2008-09. Cunningham, a reserve last season, is the first Piston to make consecutive All-Star games since Chauncey Billups from 2006-08.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was officially named a head coach for the 2026 All-Star game on Jan. 24. Bickerstaff is the first Pistons coach with an All-Star nod since Flip Saunders in 2006, and the fourth all-time, following Saunders, Doug Collins in 1997 and Chuck Daly in 1990.

Cunningham, Duren and Bickerstaff are all on the “Team USA Stars” team.

NBA All-Star starters 2026

Eastern Conference

Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons.

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks.

Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers.

Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks.

Western Conference

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder.

Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers.

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors.

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs.

Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets.

MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ] 

2026 NBA All-Star Weekend schedule

(All times Eastern)

Friday, Feb. 13

All-Star Celebrity Game: 7 p.m., ESPN, Kia Forum.

Rising Stars Game: 9 p.m., Peacock, Intuit Dome.

NBA HBCU Classic (Hampton vs. North Carolina A&T): 11 p.m., Peacock, Kia Forum.

Saturday, Feb. 14

All-Star Media Day: 1:30 p.m., NBA TV, Intuit Dome.

All-Star Saturday (3-point competition, dunk contest, skills competition): 5 p.m., NBC/Peacock, Intuit Dome.

Sunday, Feb. 15

75th NBA All-Star Game: 5 p.m., NBC/Peacock, Intuit Dome.

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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X @omarisankofa.

DETROIT — An eight-game winning streak didn’t just end Friday night. It was run out of the gym.

The Pistons reiterated their position atop the East with a 118-80 curb stomp of the short-handed Knicks, who were a disaster on offense while losing for the first time since Jan. 19.

Jalen Brunson lowlighted the evening while shooting just 4-for-20 with 12 points, appearing exhausted after carrying the Knicks in a double-overtime thriller two nights earlier.

Brunson was locked down by Ausar Thompson and sat the entire fourth quarter alongside his fellow starters, with coach Mike Brown waving the white flag earlier than ever.

“They kicked our behind, starting with me,” Brown said. “We all got our behind kicked. The Pistons are a good defensive team.”

Overall, the Knicks shot just 35.8 percent — including 24.2 percent on 3s — with James Dolan making the trip to Detroit and watching the ugliness before leaving his courtside seat for the fourth quarter.

It was the fewest points scored by the Knicks this season, by far. Their previous low was 90 points — also in Detroit.

“Obviously, I missed a lot of shots,” Brunson said. “We missed shots as a team, as well.”

The Pistons (38-13), who are now 5 ½ games ahead of the Knicks (33-19) for first in the East, were faster, stronger and more motivated — just like their last matchup about a month ago.

They clearly wanted to send another message after getting eliminated by New York in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

Message received.

Detroit didn’t even need a big night from star Cade Cunningham (11 points, 22 minutes) to dominate.

Brunson wouldn’t use the excuse of facing the exhaustion of carrying an eight-game winning streak and playing not long after Wednesday’s win over the Nuggets.

“It’s not an excuse for what happened today. [The Pistons] played last night. We had a day off. Obviously. we traveled. But there’s no excuse what happens prior to the game,” Brunson said. “You got to come here, you got to be professional, you got to do your job. But we just didn’t do our job well enough tonight.”

The Knicks, meanwhile, carried the posture of punting this game. Jose Alvarado, the new acquisition, didn’t join the team in Detroit. He’ll likely meet the Knicks in Boston for Sunday’s game.

Karl-Anthony Towns sat because of an eye laceration. OG Anunoby was a late scratch because of toe soreness. Josh Hart started but limped off the court in the third quarter and never returned.

The Knicks said it was a right ankle injury, with no further update.

So the Knicks started rookie Mohamed Diawara and Mitchell Robinson and their offense fell off a cliff. Of course, the Pistons — a team that applies physicality and athleticism at levels above the Knicks — had a lot to do with the struggles.

In two games against the Pistons, the Knicks have averaged 85 points, with their total margin of defeat at 69.

It’s a potentially ominous sign considering the Knicks and Pistons could meet in the playoffs, whether in the second round or conference finals. But Brown doesn’t view it that way.

“I don’t look at regular-season games as a barometer because, come playoffs, it’s a different basketball game,” he said. “Especially when you talk about a seven-game series. I’ve been with different teams that went to the finals or played deep in the playoffs that lost the season series to teams and still won in the playoffs.

“I look at it as it’s our next game. It’s very important. These guys handed our lunch to us last time. And so, we need to come fighting. Those are things I’m looking for tonight.

“I don’t look at it like if we win, hey, we’re going to get them come playoff time. Or if they win, they’re going to get us come playoff time.”

The Knicks can fall back on history if we ever get to another playoff series against the Pistons. They were swept in the regular season by the Celtics last year but toppled them in the second round.

So there’s indeed hope no matter what happens in the regular season. But there’s no question the Knicks have looked utterly overmatched by Detroit in two ugly games.

On Friday, they managed just 17 points in the first quarter and 42 after the second. They trailed by 21 at the break, which ended, appropriately, with Brunson getting rejected at the buzzer by Paul Reed.

For the Knicks, it was awful to that point and didn’t get better.

FOX 2 – This year a Sheetz may be coming to an area near you, with the chain boasting ambitious expansion plans for Southeast Michigan.

The Altoona, Pennsylvania-based company is planning to open 14 new restaurant and convenience store locations as part of a $500 million investment in the state for 2026.

Dig deeper:

Each store will employ at least 30 employees, which the company says will be mostly full-time, amounting to about 400 new jobs created.

New locations  include two in Taylor, with additional sites planned for Eastpointe, Ypsilanti, Warren, Novi, Fraser, Orion Township, Macomb, Shelby Township, Belleville and Royal Oak.

Some proposed Sheetz locations have faced community pushback in the past by some suburbs, citing traffic and noise concerns from the 24-hour gas station convenience stores, including one site in Farmington Hills which was shot down by elected officials.

Despite some Detroit-area resistance, the family-owned chain operates more than 800 locations throughout seven states.

New store openings are planned for:

• 19001 East 9 Mile Rd. Eastpointe, MI 48021
• 2103 West Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti, MI 48197
• 5970 12 Mile Rd., Warren, MI 48092
• 20623 Eureka Rd., Taylor, MI 48180
• 39471 West 12 Mile Rd., Novi, MI 48377
• 32981 Utica Rd., Fraser, MI 48026
• 4160 S. Lapeer Rd., Orion Township, MI 48359
• 8200 Telegraph Rd., Taylor, MI 48180
• 45075 North Gratiot Ave., Macomb, MI 48042
• 7828 22 Mile Rd., Shelby Twp, MI 48317
• 7840 Haggerty Rd., Belleville, MI 48111
• 2003 12 Mile Rd., Warren, MI 48092
• 3200 West 14 Mile Rd., Royal Oak, MI 48073
• 50980 North Ave., Macomb, MI 48042

“All new locations will feature Sheetz’s award-winning Made-to-Order menu, where customers can order any of Sheetz’s customized specialty drinks or food items around the clock, including breakfast all day, subs, sandwiches, pizza, chicken, salads, cold brew, milkshakes, smoothies and more,” the company said in a release.

Sheetz Public Affairs Manager Nick Ruffner said 2026 is a big year for Sheetz in Michigan.

“We can’t wait to become part of these communities, and we look forward to serving the specific needs of our neighbors in each of these areas,” he said. “Whether that’s satisfying late-night cravings, providing a quick fill-up, or offering a safe space to gather, we’re committed to creating places where both customers and employees feel welcomed.”