For the New York Knicks, it was better late than never.
The Knicks, who went just 6-24 during the regular season when trailing at the start of the final frame, erased an eight-point deficit in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the young and hardnosed Detroit Pistons to escape with an eleven-point 123-112 victory.
There were several celebrities and former Knicks taking in the action on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, such as Spike Lee, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Michael Strahan, Tracy Morgan, John McEnroe, Larry Johnson and Latrell Sprewell just to name a few.
New York torched the Pistons with a 21-0 extended run midway through the fourth quarter as Detroit, a team with many of their players making postseason debuts, came unglued. During that stretch, the Pistons missed 10 consecutive shots.
The Pistons were 38-6 this season when having a lead going into the fourth quarter. But it was a sign of things to come for the Pistons when they were whistled for a five-second violation on the inbounds pass to start the period, and they followed that up with a 24 second shot clock violation on the ensuing possession.
Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, who came out of the gate slowly with a 2-13 start but rebounded nicely and led everyone with 34 points on 12-of-27 from the field. New York also got huge contributions from center Karl-Anthony Towns, who had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds in his first playoff game with the Knicks, and forward OG Anunoby adding 23 points. Cam Payne had 11 of his 14 in the fourth quarter.
“I been kind of waiting on that all year,” Payne said. “I’ve been waiting on this game, how I played today, all year.”
Brunson, who missed 15 games late in the season with a severely sprained right ankle, was just 4 for 15 in the first half and appeared to be hobbling in the third quarter after tweaking his ankle again. But he changed out of his green sneakers and found another level in the fourth along with his teammates.
“I think he grabbed his cape,” head coach Tom Thibodeau joked afterward.
But it was New York’s collective defensive effort and intensity in the fourth quarter that was responsible for their explosive run.
The Knicks also attempted to make Pistons players other than All-Star guard Cade Cunningham beat them. And, through the first three quarters, it did not matter. Veteran role players Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Dennis Schroder, who has played on three teams this season, combined to score 52 points in the game. But once the Pistons turned cold and their shots stopped falling, neither Cunningham nor any of the other Pistons could stop the bleeding. The Pistons were also careless with the ball, committing eight turnovers in the final quarter.
“Obviously, for this group, guys having first-time playoff experience, just understanding yeah, it stinks to lose, but it’s all about how you come back,” Harris said.
Cunningham finished the game with 21 points but led all players with 12 dimes.
The Pistons are still searching for their first win in the postseason since Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons had a good showing and held up well for more than three quarters of their first playoff game in six years, since 2019 and had a 98-90 lead, a little more than nine minutes away from ending their NBA-record, 14-game postseason losing streak.
Game 2 of the series will be played at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
