Tonight at Madison Square Garden, the Detroit Pistons (41-13) completed a three-game sweep of the Knicks (35*-21), 126-111.
The first half was physical and fast. New York gave away an early edge by missing 15 straight threes and failing to engage Karl-Anthony Towns. Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham powered Detroit to a 58-48 halftime lead. Towns opened the third with a nifty four-point play, but Detroit’s paint pressure and rebounding extended the margin to 90-79. In the fourth, the Knicks cut it to 11
late after trailing by 19, but by then, the outcome was never in doubt.
New York shot 8-of-35 from deep (23%) and lost the rebounding battle 44-38. Jalen Brunson led them with 33 points and six assists; Towns recovered from a two-point first half to post a 21-11 double-double; OG Anunoby scored eight on 3-of-13 but tied a career high with four blocks; Mikal Bridges had eight points on nine shots, and Josh Hart added 11 points in 28 minutes.
Landry Shamet supplied 15 off the bench and Mitchell Robinson chipped in seven points, six boards, two steals, and a block, but the second unit delivered no offense otherwise. Jose Alvarado and Jeremy Sochan defended well but combined for eight points.
For the victors, Cunningham finished with 42 points, 14 assists, and eight rebounds on 17-of-34 shooting; third-string center Paul Reed scored 18 points and seven boards; and Tobias Harris recorded 11 points and 10 boards.
Happy Lunar New Year, folks.
First Half
Even though Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart are serving suspensions, the remaining Pistons still brought pipes and hammers into MSG. Josh Hart took exception when hit from behind on a dunk, and the refs checked their shoelaces. He wasn’t the only complainer. Both sides bemoaned the excessive contact, but New York received more penalties by midway through the frame.
Early on, OG Anunoby missed two wide-open triples, but Detroit shot worse. The visitors made 1-of-10 as New York went up by seven points in a game that was not only chippy but speedy. The sneakers were slappin’, the perspiration was flyin’, and the dude with the sweat mop earned his paycheck. Landry Shamet came off the bench to spell Mikal Bridges. Soon after, Mitchell Robinson and Mohamed Diawara replaced Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby. No Jeremy Sochan yet. . . .
After Motown’s cold start, they made seven of their next eight to leapfrog New York on the scoreboard. Shooting 1-of-8 from deep in the quarter didn’t help New York. Around the three-minute mark, Jose Alvarado clocked in and received a cheer. Jose repaid the affection with a tasty fast-break layup. And the newest Knick, Sochan—possessor of the best diastema in New York sports since Michael Strahan—made his MSG debut for the final defensive possession of the period. When the bell finally rang, Detroit held a 28-26 lead.
Boatloads of contact continued in Q2. Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns had taken just two shots total by the midway point of the period. With Duren and Stewart out, we were convinced Towns would explode tonight. It’s strange stuff when Mitch outscores KAT (7-2) in a half.
New York wasted opportunities and fell behind by six. Alvarado had another of his famous back-court steals, but Hart blew the layup; on the subsequent possession, Brunson botched a contested layup, and Mitch couldn’t corral the board. Alvarado contributed four misses to New York’s awful three-point shooting—they converted just 1-of-16 in the half. Give credit to Detroit for keeping the Knicks out of the corners, where they’re most dangerous.
Defensive intensity kept New York alive for most of the half, but it wasn’t enough. E.g., Brunson tried his best, but Cunningham was just too much to handle, scoring 24 in his first 19 minutes. The Pistons went on a 7-0 run over the final 1:20 of the half to take a 58-48 score into halftime. Brunson topped the Knicks box score with 13.
Second Half
Spotting Detroit 10 points? Not the best strategy. The second half started on a promising note, though, with a four-point play by Towns (plus three more buckets) in the first three minutes.
Every time the Knicks drove the lane—whether it was Towns, Anunoby, Brunson, or whoever—the Pistons collapsed and stuffed them. Consequently, the breakneck speed of the first half slowed due to an increase in foul calls, and New York began to get a more favorable whistle.
Anunoby did a good job guarding Cunningham, but when OG rested, the gates swung open.
Once again, the Knicks gave up too much ground at the end of a period. They fell behind by 13 down the stretch and went into the fourth quarter behind, 90-79. It would have been worse if Sochan—again playing the final minute—swatting back a driving Cunningham.
Brunson and Cunningham opened the quarter on the bench. The Knicks turned to Towns, Bridges, Hart, Alvarado, and Sochan, but early sloppiness stalled any push. Bridges threw it away, then missed a three-pointer, and Towns lost the ball after grabbing a defensive board. Meanwhile, the Pistons took a 19-point lead, capped by two Caris LeVert triples and a Daniss Jenkins’ bunny.
Midway through the frame, Brunson was back. He and Cunningham were dueling buckets. Coach Brown deployed Sochan again, gluing him to Cade. The newcomer had two steals and a block in five minutes. A line-up of Brunson, Shamet, Sochan, Anunoby, and Robinson was heavy on the defense, but Detroit’s was tougher. Brunson spun with a dribble right into Ausar Thompson’s arms. A potential Mitch dunk was blocked from behind by Paul Reed. And on one sequence, Harris and Cunningham both missed from deep, but Detroit’s relentless offensive rebounding brought the ball back to Cade for another attempt that finally found the net. With shenanigans like that, New York fell behind by 19.
With a minute-and-a-half left, Brunson hit a three to make the deficit 11, then stole the ball from Cunningham—but he bricked from deep, KAT blew the putback, Detroit scored at the other end, and all the air left the building. Ballgame.
Up Next
Matt Miranda’s comin’ at ya with a recap. Then the Houston Rockets come into MSG on Saturday. Rest up, Knickerbockers.
* Should be one more, but Adam Silver robbed us.
