DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons fell apart in the fourth quarter of their first playoff game against the New York Knicks, ultimately leading to a Game 1 loss.
Detroit is a popular upset pick in the first round of the NBA postseason after winning three of four regular-season matchups with New York.
But Game 1 went to the No. 3 seed Knicks in front of a raucous home crowd at Madison Square Garden. Now the Pistons will try to avoid a dangerous 0-2 deficit in the second game of the best-of-seven series on Monday.
Back-and-forth first half
Other than 10-3 Knicks lead in the opening moments, the entire first half stayed within five points.
The Pistons hit nine of 18 three-point attempts, but turned the ball over 11 times to keep the Knicks close.
Tobias Harris dominated the first 30 minutes, scoring 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He made four threes, including one at the buzzer to cut a five-point deficit to two.
Cade Cunningham made just three of 10 shots in the first half, but chipped in six assists and three rebounds.
Malik Beasley made four of six threes to score 12 first-half points off the bench.
The Knicks had three players in double figures at halftime, led by OG Anunoby’s 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Key sequence in third quarter
The Pistons played one of their best quarters of the season in the third, turning a two-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead heading into the fourth.
The key sequence came with about two minutes left in the quarter.
Detroit had just bounced back from a tough break -- Tim Hardaway Jr. appeared to get fouled on a fast break dunk, but the ball careened back out after going through the rim, and no foul was called.
The Knicks went down and scored to make it a two-point game, instead of a seven-point Pistons lead.
That’s when Dennis Schroder and Beasley took over. Schroder blocked a shot that led to a Beasley layup to put the Pistons up four. On the very next possession, an Isaiah Stewart contest led to a Schroder fast-break pass to Beasley in the corner. He hit the triple and gave the Knicks a shimmy as they called timeout.
21-0 run buries Pistons
As hard as the Pistons worked to build their lead in the third, it took less than five minutes for it to vanish.
The fourth quarter began with the Pistons getting a five-second violation and a shot clock violation.
They survived that early push by New York and held onto a 98-90 lead, but a series of misses by Schroder and Beasley opened the door for a Knicks run that tied the game at 98.
Out of a timeout, Hardaway missed two wide open looks and Jalen Brunson responded with an and-1 that gave the Knicks a 100-98 lead.
Jalen Duren missed a point-black look on the ensuing possession, and Cameron Payne hit a triple to push the lead to five.
Another turnover led to a fast break layup for New York, and then another, and then another. That all but buried the Pistons, as a 21-0 run gave the Knicks a 111-98 lead with under 5 minutes remaining.
Beasley ended the run with a three, but it was too little, too late. The teams exchanged buckets for the final few minutes, and the Knicks cruised to a 123-112 win.
