Date, time announced for Detroit Pistons vs. Knicks first-round playoff game

DETROIT – The NBA regular season has come to a close, but 16 teams, including the Detroit Pistons, are still alive in their quest to secure the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

The Pistons are heading to the postseason for the first time since the 2018-19 season, where they got swept by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Speaking of the Bucks, Milwaukee secured the No. 5 seed by sweeping the Pistons in the regular season, causing Detroit to lock into the No. 6 seed, where they will face the No. 3 seed New York Knicks on Saturday (April 19) inside Madison Square Garden at 6 p.m. EST.

The Pistons tripled their games won from 14-68 last season to 44-38 by 30 games, making for a monumental story as the franchise fell on hard times over the years.

But they are not on the right footing as they’re on a two-game losing streak and have lost four out of their last six games to limp into the playoffs, so they are heavy underdogs in their matchup against the Knicks.

Playoff matchup history

The matchup between both historic franchises will not be their first time seeing each other in the playoffs, as they played against one another 33 years ago, which happened to be in the first round as well.

New York, led by Patrick Ewing, Mark Jackson, John Starks, Xavier McDaniel, Gerald Wilkins, and Charles Oakley, took game one inside MSG 109-75.

The Pistons, led by Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, Mark Aguirre, John Salley, and Orlando Woolridge, split the first four games of the then five-game series before falling 94-87 in game five in front of the Knicks faithful.

Before 1992, the Knicks and Pistons met two other times, with the Pistons winning in five games in the 1990 Eastern Conference semifinals and the Knicks winning the first-ever playoff matchup in five games in the first round of the 1984 playoffs.

Pistons vs. Knicks regular season

The Knicks cooked Detroit on Nov. 1, 2024, inside Little Caesars Arena in blowout fashion, winning 128-98 to extend their winning streak to 16 consecutive against the Pistons.

All-Star guard Jalen Brunson scored 15 of his 36 points in the first quarter, while Karl-Anthony Towns had a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double while adding seven assists.

New York led by as much as 20 points for the final 40 minutes of the game, thanks in part to OG Anunoby, who is known for being a defensive stopper, dropped 21 points as the starting five combined for 106 of the team’s 128 points.

The Pistons returned the favor by snapping that 16-game losing streak to the Knicks by defeating them 120-111 on Dec. 7, 2024, jumping out to a 39-23 lead inside MSG.

Not getting outshined again by Brunson, All-Star guard Cade Cunningham had a 29-point, 15-assist, and 10-rebound triple-double in the dismay of the fans of the Knickerbockers.

Potential sixth-man of the year Malik Beasley dropped 23 points off the bench while Jaden Ivey chipped in with 16 points to help snap the team’s three-game losing streak.

The triple-double was Cunningham’s fifth of the season, but the Knicks played without Towns in that matchup as he was dealing with a sore right knee.

Towns dropped 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds on Jan. 13, 2025, but the Knicks fell short, losing 124-119 inside MSG.

Mikal Bridges had 26 points in the games, while Brunson led the Knicks in scoring, dropping 31 points and 11 assists in the loss.

The Pistons were led by Cunningham, who scored 36 points while shooting 4-8 from beyond the arc, but his final two possessions were memorable.

Once Cunningham got cooking, the Knicks threw two bodies at Cunningham in the game’s final seconds, causing him to give up the ball, leading to a former Knickerbocker, Tim Hardaway Jr., drive and kick to a wide-open Beasley corner three to take a 121-117 lead with 39.1 seconds left.

Then, up 121-119 with the shot clock under nine seconds and the game clock under 16 seconds, the Pistons ran the same flare screen they ran previously, except this time, instead of a drive and kick, Hardaway Jr. got the pass from Cunningham, set his feet for a wide-open three-pointer, drawing the defender, causing him to swing the ball to Beasley for another dagger corner three to take a 124-119 lead with 6.3 seconds remaining.

Beasley, who finished with 22 points, hit his wiggle to the dismay of the New York fans.

Knowing that they could be facing Detroit in the first round, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau played chess while the Pistons were playing checkers as he sat Mitchell Robinson, Anunoby, and shooting guard Josh Hart for the April 10, 2025, matchup inside LCA.

The Pistons trailed by as much as 13 before coming back to take a 115-106 victory to take the season series 3-1.

Cunningham had 36 points and eight assists in the matchup, while Brunson returned from an injured ankle to finish the game with 15 points while missing 10 of 15 shots in the defeat.

Tobias Harris scored 17 points, Ron Holland II added 13 points, and Jalen Duren had an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double in the victory.

Chess, not checkers: Knicks rest core players ahead of potential playoff matchup vs. Detroit Pistons

Series Odds

According to BetMGM, the Knicks are -425 (Bet $425 to win $100), while the Pistons are +325 (Bet $100 to win $325), but this Knicks team is not the same as they were last year when they advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

They’ve lost Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and Isaiah Hartenstein, who all contributed to their magical run last season.

Yes, they got Bridges to join the squad, but they depleted their bench while giving up three players and six future draft picks in a mega-deal this offseason.

Although the Pistons are unfamiliar with the playoffs, they have a bunch of dawgs on their team, representing the city of Detroit.

Yes, the Knicks have more star power.

However, Thibodeau only plays his starters, which usually runs them into the ground this season.

Detroit will be getting key reinforcements back, like Ivey, who is scheduled to return sometime during this potential playoff run.

Without Ivey, the Pistons go at least 10 deep, including the starting five with Isaiah Stewart, Dennis Schroder, Simone Fontecchio, and Marcus Sasser, to name a few.

Look for the underdog Pistons to take a bite out of the Big Apple with Game 1 scheduled on April 19 inside MSG at 6 p.m.