The perfect storm went down in the ‘Big Apple’. The young Detroit Pistons may not have history on their side, but they are not going on vacation just yet.
The Pistons held off the New York Knicks on Tuesday night in a 106-103 nail biting victory, living to fight another day in their first-round series and setting up a Game 6 in downtown Detroit on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Jalen Duran’s dunk off a Cade Cunningham assist gave the Pistons a 95-93 lead with just over three minutes remaining, that they would not surrender.
The Pistons are attempting to join an elite group to become just the 14th team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit, with 95.5% of teams in such situations failing to advance.
“Everybody’s got a back’s-against-the-wall type of mentality, but the group really loves being around each other and I think that was one of the biggest things,” forward Tobias Harris said. “Like, we don’t want this thing to stop. Like, we’ve got to keep on fighting.”
The Knicks, meanwhile, had been trying to close out a postseason series at home for the first time since the 1999 Eastern Conference finals, when current head coach Tom Thibodeau was a young assistant on staff under Jeff Van Gundy.
Embed from Getty ImagesPistons first-time All-Star Cunningham carried Detroit on his shoulders with a big second half, finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on 6-of-17 shooting. Forward Ausar Thompson, known more for his defensive prowess, showed off his skills on the offensive end, pouring in 22 points and seven rebounds, often getting easy looks in the paint on cuts and lobs.
“Confident,” Cunningham said. “We’ll be back.”
As they have throughout the series, the Knicks once again came into the fourth quarter trailing and tried to rally.
One positive development for the Knicks, who at times this series have overly relied on and put too much on the plates of stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, was that role players and reserves carried the load until Brunson and Towns found their footing.
“We just put ourselves in a deficit early,” Towns said. “All series we’ve been fighting back.”
All five Knicks starters reached double figures, with backup center Mitchell Robinson’s 13 points making six Knicks to reach double figures.
With three-and-a-half minutes left in the half, the tandem had combined for just 1-of-10 shooting and five points. Brunson would finish with 16 points, while Towns would add 17.
Sluggish third quarters have been a point of emphasis all series for New York, and the Knicks again Tuesday started the period off slowly, falling behind by 10 points midway through the frame, their largest deficit of the game.
But the Knicks closed the period on a 13-6 run to go into the fourth quarter down by three.
Still, the Pistons ramped up their defensive intensity down the stretch and made enough shots to maintain a steady, if minor lead.
The Knicks did not go away, burying a pair of late 3s to keep the game close, but Detroit converted its free throws, eventually pulling away.
