The Knicks lacked sharpness on both ends of the floor and after falling behind early couldn’t withstand a huge night from Detroit’s Cade Cunningham in a 120-111 loss to the Pistons on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Playing without Karl-Anthony Towns, New York fell behind by as much as 17 before cutting it to a two-point deficit in the fourth quarter. But the home team never led in the game and were outrebounded 43-31. The Knicks shot 11-for-34 from behind the arc, but their foes went 18-for-36.
Jalen Brunson led the team with 31 points on 11-for-21 shooting (3-for-7 from deep) with 10 assists and four rebounds but was a minus-10 in 44 minutes.
The Knicks fell to 14-9 on the year. Detroit – winners of 14 and 17 games the past two seasons – improved to 10-15. The Pistons entered the night losers of their last 16 games to the Knicks – including eight straight games at MSG.
Here are some takeaways…
– The Knicks did not start the game in rhythm committing four turnovers to fall behind 13-2, forcing a Tom Thibodeau timeout under four minutes into the game. And things were not any better the rest of the way. Cunningham found Malik Beasley beyond the arc (Cunningham’s sixth assist and Beasley’s fourth three) to put the visitors up 16 to end the first quarter.
In the opening frame, the Knicks committed seven turnovers and allowed the Pistons to go 16-for-26 from the floor – hitting 7 of 15 from deep for a 39-23 lead. Brunson started 4-for-6 from the floor with nine points, two rebounds and two assists, but the rest of the team went 4-for-11.
In the last two games, the Knicks have trailed by a combined 29-6 to start, SNY’s Ian Begley tabulated. On Thursday against Charlotte, Brunson scored 19 in the first quarter to get them back in the game en route to a 24-point victory.
History would not repeat itself this time.
– The Knicks twice cut the lead to four points in the second – first on a Brunson four-point play and then a Josh Hart three. But both times Detroit pushed their lead back to nine. A bit of foreshadowing for later in the game: The Knicks could push the visitors, but not impose their will on them.
The Pistons’ Cunningham went 5-for-6 in the second including four threes to give him 21 points on the game and he was dominating the the Knicks’ defense with nine assists to no turnovers and five rebounds for a plus-21 in 18 minutes.
New York bounced back in the quarter, shooting 60 percent from the floor with Hart and Brunson combining to go 7-for-8, but entered the half down 69-58. Over the first 24 minutes, the Pistons held a 24-16 edge in points in the paint and a huge 16-2 edge in fastbreak points. (From that period on, the Knicks outdid the visitors 18-3 on fastbreak points.)
– The start of the third was familiar to the start of the first: The Knicks missed their first three shots and the Pistons scored six unanswered for their biggest lead of 17. But it was then when Detroit’s lack of killer instinct began to show: A 13-3 run got New York within single digits with a few hustle plays from OG Anunoby – including getting a tip slam on a missed free throw – as the Pistons began to start missing some open looks.
Down by 89-77 with four minutes to play, the Knicks flipped the switch again – with Cunningham on the bench in foul trouble – scoring eight unanswered while holding the Pistons to 0-for-7 from the floor with two turnovers.
– And while the fourth quarter saw the Knicks cut the deficit to two, Cunningham couldn’t be denied leading a 16-4 run forcing a Thibs timeout with seven to play.
Through nine minutes of the quarter, the Pistons had more made baskets (11) than the Knicks had attempted shots (6-for-10). Mikal Bridges and Anunoby (assisted by Brunson) answered with threes to cut the game to single digits once again and force a timeout.
Hart – who was given a technical foul for arguing a call in the third – was ejected with 1:10 to play and the Knicks down seven. Before the Pistons could inbound the ball, Hart was assessed the second tech after a rather nonchalant exchange with one of the referees.
Precious Achiuwa showed flashes, adding six points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes off the bench for a team-high plus-9.
Anunoby added 17 points but was a minus-10 in 39 minutes. Bridges finished with 20 on 8-for-17 shooting and was a plus-1 in 38 minutes. Hart played just 39 minutes and had 17 with six rebounds and was a minus-3.
Jericho Sims started in place of KAT, but didn’t return after playing the game’s first six minutes that saw New York trail by nine.
Game MVP: Cade Cunningham
The former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2021 became the first Pistons player with a triple-double at MSG. Cunningham finished with 29 points on 9-for-17 shooting (5-for-8 from deep) with 15 assists and 10 rebounds (three turnovers) and was a plus-16 in 35 minutes.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks head north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors on Monday, tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
