DETROIT – A dagger three-pointer by all-star guard Jalen Brunson sends the New York Knicks to the second round of the NBA playoffs, defeating the Detroit Pistons 116-113.
Brunson finished the game with 40 points as the Knicks beat Detroit on the road for the third time in this best-of-seven series.
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With the loss, the Pistons fell to 0-7in the postseason inside Little Caesars Arena.
Their last home victory in the state of Michigan came back in 2008, when the “Going to Work” Pistons defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pistons overcame a 15-point first-half deficit and led by as much as seven points in the fourth quarter, but Brunson put the Knicks on his back and showed why he is a superstar.
The Pistons got contributions from Cade Cunningham, who scored 23 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in the matchup. However, a costly turnover up two points with the game on the line led to a Karl-Anthony Towns steal and foul at the rim, where he knocked down both free throws to tie the game.
Jalen Duren finished with 21 points and six rebounds, while Malik Beasley added 20 points while shooting 6-13 from beyond the arc.
Ausar Thompson, who was the hero in Game 5 scored 17 points while adding six rebounds and Tobias Harris shot 6-10 from the field for 14 points as Detroit remains winless inside the LCA.
1st quarter
Jalen Brunson opened the game with a jumper, and then the Knicks got a turnover by Cade Cunningham, which led to a Mikal Bridges fast break to take a 4-0 lead.
Cunningham ended the quick four-point spurt with a tough floater over OG Anunoby.
Karl-Anthony Towns made a technical free throw to take a 5-2 lead before Tim Hardaway Jr. made a rim run floater to cut the deficit to one.
Jalen Duren got on the board with a contested layup, but Brunson connected with a jumper over Cunningham to take a 9-6 lead.
Tobias Harris cleaned the glass for his first two points of the game, but poor defensive strategy led to a wide-open Anunoby three-pointer, which led to a timeout as the Knicks led 12-8 with 8:02 to play in the quarter.
Bridges got a reverse layup in transition, followed by a Karl-Anthony Towns jumper to take a 16-8 lead.
An easy bucket by Bridges pushed the lead to 10, which got extended to 12 after Brunson drove to the rim for another layup.
In a must-win home game, the Pistons came out flat for the third time inside LCA, looking lost.
Cunningham drew a foul on Anunoby when he made both free throws, but Brunson drove into the lane to find Anunoby for a wide-open three-pointer.
Harris knocked down a corner three, followed by a Dennis Schröder floater, but Brunson returned the favor with another Knicks three-pointer to take a 28-15 lead with 4:16 to play in the quarter.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff needed to burn another timeout as Detroit looked stunned that the Knicks came out more aggressively than they did on their home floor.
Cunningham attacked the basket out of the timeout for an uncontested layup to cut the deficit to 11.
Sensing that his team needed a jolt of energy, Cunningham attacked the basket again, drawing a foul on Josh Hart and knocking down both for his eighth point of the game.
After denying Anunoby space on offense with excellent defense, Cunningham drove to the basket once again, got fouled, but split the pair to cut the lead down to eight.
Brunson schooled Schröder, who rolled his ankle on the previous play for his 13th point of the quarter.
Malik Beasley made his first three-pointer of the game, but Brunson made another floater for his 15th point.
Bridges scored his eighth point of the quarter, but Brunson assisted Cameron Payne on a wide-open three-pointer to cap off their explosive first quarter, and they led 37-23.
2nd quarter
Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was shown on the jumbotron to ignite the crowd ahead of the
Ausar Thompson opened the quarter with a monster jam, followed by a block on Mitchell Robinson, who fumbled the rebound out of bounds.
Thompson attacked the rack again, drawing a foul on Robinson and splitting the pair.
But Anunoby knocked down another wide-open three-pointer to push the lead to 40-26.
Thompson attacked the rim again and got fouled by Towns, splitting the pair again.
Towns knocked down a long-range two-pointer, followed by a Schröder rebound and a long-range three-pointer.
Towns cleaned the glass for a put-back jam, followed by a Beasley three-pointer as the Pistons trailed 44-33 with nine minutes to play.
The Pistons got a defensive stop, but Beasley charged into Payne for an offensive foul.
Beasley knocked down his third three-pointer of the half to cut the deficit to 44-36, but he picked up his second foul, which led to a technical foul by Bickerstaff with 8:12 to play.
Brunson returned to the game and went to the free-throw line to make the technical free-throw as the score was 45-36.
Harris knocked down a contested jumper over Bridges before Paul Reed drew a turnover on Hart.
Hart returned the favor as he attacked Reed on the next play, picking up his second of the half and knocking down two free throws.
Duren attacked the rim for a contested layup over Towns, but Brunson hit another jumper.
He was 8-11 before Beasley hit his fifth three-pointer of the half, followed by a Duren alley-oop from Cunningham, drawing a foul on Brunson to cut the deficit to three with 4:44 to play.
Anunoby shot an airball, leading to another Beasley three-pointer. They’re on a 24-12 run to tie the game at 49-49.
Hart quieted the crowd as he drew a foul on Duren, knocking down two more free throws to take a 51-49 lead.
Duren hit a floater before Bridges hit a contested jumper over two defenders.
Hart lobbed the ball to Anunoby for a jam to push the lead to four with 2:08 to play before the half.
Brunson made both free throws as the Pistons were on a 28-20 run before Harris drew a foul on Hart for a three-point play.
The foul was Hart’s third of the half. Schröder blew past McBride for a tough layup to cut the deficit to one before taking their first lead of the game with a Cunningham-contested floater.
Brunson turned the ball over back-to-back plays as the Pistons took a 58-57 lead with 30 seconds to play before Bridges scored an alley-oop layup.
Beasley got the crowd back into the game with a Beasley buzzer-beating three-pointer as they took a 61-59 lead at the half.
The Pistons were down 15 at one point, but Beasley knocked down six three-pointers, five in the second quarter, to help the Pistons take a two-point lead into the half.
Both teams shot 22-44 from the field, but Detroit outscored New York 38-22 in the second quarter to take the lead.
3rd quarter
The Pistons started the quarter sluggishly as Bridges and Towns opened the quarter like they did the first quarter, as New York jumped out to a 6-0 run.
Bridges scored four of the six points as the Knicks led 65-61 with 10:15 to play.
Thompson, with the shot clock beating layup, came off an offensive rebound, followed by another foul on Hart, his fourth of the game.
Thompson went to the line and made both to tie the game at 65-65. Brunson drew a foul on Thompson, followed by a Hart wide-open three-pointer.
Cunningham knocked down a contested jumper before being called for his second foul of the game. He sent Anunoby to the line, where he knocked down both.
Anunoby drew another foul on Cunningham on a dunk attempt as he split the pair while the Knicks took a 71-67 lead.
Duren got called for an offensive foul as Anunoby fought through a screen, leading to another Brunson three-pointer.
Timeout Detroit as New York leads 74-67 with eight minutes to play in the third quarter.
Brunson shot 9-15 from the field and 2-5 from beyond the arc for 23 points and four assists at the eight-minute mark in the third quarter.
After the timeout, Cunningham hit a floater to stop, but Hart drew another foul on Duren, knocking down both to take a 76-69 lead with 7:27 to play.
Brunson performed some magic with a dime to Bridges as he was in control of the game.
Thompson picked up a foul on Anunoby as the shot clock expired, knocking down both.
New York went up 81-71 with another Anunoby wide-open three-pointer.
Harris made an easy rim run, but Brunson countered with another floater to go back up 10 with 5:09 to play.
The Pistons implemented the hack-a-Robinson as he bricked both to the amazement of the Little Caesars Arena crowd.
Robinson was fouled again, splitting the pair as the Knicks led 84-73. The Knicks got a dunk by Bridges after an Anunoby block on Harris.
The monster jam was in Cunningham’s face as Bridges let him and the LCA fans hear it with his loud scream.
Cunningham scored a tough floater to cut the deficit to 11 before New York called a timeout with 3:45 to play.
The Knicks blitzed Detroit from the start of the quarter. In 8:15 of the third quarter, they went on a 27-14 run, turning a two-point deficit into an 11-point lead.
Brunson had 25 points, Bridges had 20 points, and Anunoby had 19 points with 3:45 to play in the third quarter.
Detroit got a turnover, which led to two free throws by Reed. Reed made both to cut the deficit back to single digits.
Brunson countered by drawing a shooting foul on Schröder, who, too, drained both to put the Knicks back up by double digits.
Reed picked up his fifth foul with a touch foul on Brunson who went back to the line but this split the pair.
Cunningham was not denied as he went coast to coast on an easy layup, but Brunson hit a step-back jumper for his 30th point of the game.
Anunoby was called for an aggressive foul as he threw Schröder to the ground, which led to an official’s review.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau challenged the foul call with 2:13 to play, leading to an unsuccessful challenge, a loss of a timeout, and another Anunoby foul.
Schröder went to the line and made both to cut into the 91-81 deficit with 2:13 to play.
Towns threw the ball out of bounds while trying to hit a cutting Brunson. Towns was then called for his third foul as he grabbed his arm.
Duren knocked down both to cut the deficit to eight with 1:40 to play in the quarter.
Bridges hit a wide-open dagger three-pointer to push the deficit back to 11 before he fouled Beasley on the other end.
Beasley made both during his first trip to the charity stripe. Detroit got a defensive stop but Hart made a putback dunk as the Knicks led 96-85 to end the quarter.
New York ended the quarter on a 37-24 run to take an 11-point lead with 12 minutes to play.
Bridges finished with 23 points through three quarters, while Brunson had 30 points and six assists, and Anunoby scored 19 points to help the Knicks take their first lead of the series at the end of the third quarter.
Towns was having a quiet night as he only had nine points, but he had nine rebounds through three quarters.
For Detroit, Beasley scored 20 points through three-quarters while Cunningham had 19 as they needed help from someone to get back into the game.
4th quarter
Hart picked up his fifth foul of the game during an offensive rebound attempt, sending him to the bench with 11:39 to play.
Payne fouled on the next possession, leading to a Harris paint jumper to cut the deficit to single digits, but Payne countered with a contested three-pointer.
Hardaway Jr. got balled for an offensive foul as he only had two points in the game.
Duren had a mouse in the house as he was fouled by Payne. Duren made both to cut into the 98-89 deficit with 9:48 to play.
Anunoby drew a foul on Cunningham to become the third Knicks player to score over 20 points in the game.
He made the free throw for his 22nd point of the game while also giving Cunningham his fourth foul of the game.
Duren countered with an and-one of his own to cut the lead down to nine.
But Brunson made another jumper to score his 32nd point of the game.
Cunningham made a contested layup with 7:40 to play. Thompson got an easy dunk assisted by Duren to cut the lead to six before Thibodeau called a timeout.
The Pistons went on an 11-7 run until that point, and they needed to make timely defensive stops.
Cunningham got just that as he forced McBride to turn the ball over, which Hardaway Jr. recovered.
Duren was fouled on the other end, knocking down both for his 18th point as the Pistons trailed by five with 7:04 to play.
Duren was 8-8 from the line as the crowd got back into the game.
Hardaway Jr. drained his first three-pointer, followed by another turnover that led to a Thompson layup to tie the game at 103-103 with 6:06 to play.
The Pistons went on a 7-0 run in less than two minutes, and LCA was rocking as they savored a victory.
Towns passed up a wide-open three-pointer to turn the ball over, leading to a Cunningham jumper as the run extended to 9-0, as the Pistons took their first lead since the start of the second half.
Brunson on the next possession stumbled to the ground, but the referees called a foul on Hardaway Jr., leading to a coaches’ challenge by Bickerstaff with 5:14 to play.
Leading 105-103, the camera caught Brunson telling his coaches that he slipped as the fans chanted “Flopper” as the referees deemed it a non-foul.
A jump ball was issued between Duren and Towns, who got hurt ahead of the rejump.
Duren tapped the ball out of bounds with 5:11 remaining in the game.
Hart scored an easy bunny on the next possession followed by Duren who made an easy layup.
The Pistons got another turnover leading to a slam by Thompson to take a four point lead.
Thompson got fouled on the next possession, splitting the pair to take a 110-105 lead.
Cunningham blocked Hart on a contested dunk attempt, leading to a Pistons timeout with 3:13 to play in the game.
Brunson has gone cold in the fourth quarter as he shot 1/8, but time still remained in the highly contested game.
Hardaway Jr. showing the Michigan Wolverines spirit as he knocked down a contested jumper.
Brunson drew a defensive foul on Schröder, who got hit in the mouth as the basket counted.
The Pistons challenged it, but were unsuccessful as Brunson made the free-throw for the and-one.
New York got an acrobatic layup from Brunson to cut the Pistons’ lead to 112-110 with 1:19 to play.
Cunningham turned the ball over, leading to a Towns steal and foul at the rim by Duren as he split the pair.
Towns got the offensive rebound, but Harris tripped on his own guy as the ball went out of bounds.
Towns got the offensive rebound, but Harris tripped on his own guy as the ball went out of bounds.
Thompson blocked Brunson’s shot for a shot-clock violation with 49.8 seconds to play.
Duren got hacked by Towns, who fouled out of the game with 10 points. Duren who was 8-8 from the charity stripe missed the first one but made the second one as the Pistons took a 113-111 lead.
Bridges got a tip-shot to tie the game with 35.6 seconds left. Cunningham missed a contested layup at the rim, leading to a Hart rebound and a timeout with 20.6 to play.
Brunson hit a dagger three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left as he blew a kiss to the crowd.
Detroit drew up a great-looking play, but Beasley fumbled the pass out of bounds as the Knicks survive and advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
