Pistons 106, Knicks 103: “Just do the opposite of whatever Thibs tells you at halftime.”

Game Six is Thursday.

Tonight, in Game Five of the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the New York Knicks (3-2) overcame a cold shooting start and seven first-quarter turnovers thanks to gritty defense. Despite struggles from Jalen Brunson and missed opportunities at the line, New York closed the half strong against the Detroit Pistons (2-3), riding Karl-Anthony Towns’ inside dominance and OG Anunoby’s demonic defense to a narrow 50–49 lead.

Quoth JalenBrunsavior: “The team should know by now. Just do the opposite of whatever Thibs tells you at halftime. We’re always a step behind opposing coaches. All this series is proving is that Bickerstaff is clearly a better coach than Thibs.“ Preach. According to the broadcast, the Knicks have a -29 differential in third quarters this series—and indeed, the Knicks’ third-quarter woes continued as Detroit built a double-digit lead behind Cade Cunningham’s scoring and New York’s offensive drought. At least Mitchell Robinson’s energy helped trim the deficit to three by the buzzer. In a wild fourth, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns delivered clutch buckets, but injuries sidelined Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson at a crucial juncture. Despite a late flurry, the Knicks fell short in a 106–103 loss.

Overall, the Knicks narrowly outshot and outrebounded the Pistons, but poor free-throw shooting (59%) and 15 turnovers cooked them. Brunson finished with 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting, seven assists, and three turnovers. He tweaked his ankle in the fourth, and we can’t help but assume that one of these tweaks will spell doom.

As for the other starters: Anunboy collected a team-high 19 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks; Bridges and Towns scored 17 apiece; and Josh Hart tallied 15 points, seven boards, six assists, two steals, and two blocks in 36 minutes. Josh seemed to injure multiple body parts in a fourth-quarter fall—thanks to an unacknowledged Cunningham shove—and limped after the game. Game Six will be played in Detroit on Thursday. Let’s hope it’s enough time to recover.

Off the bench, Robinson was a beast, logging 13 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 23 minutes. Miles McBride and Cameron Payne combined for six points in 34 minutes.

Detroit’s Cunningham finished with 24 points and got 11 of those at the line. Ausar Thompson collected 22 points.

Before the game, Madison Square Garden paid tribute to the great Dick Barnett who passed this week. Take a look.

First Half

From the jump, New York struggled to find a rhythm, making just a quarter of their shots and falling behind by seven. A mighty defensive effort saved their bacon, however. OG Anunoby set the tone on that end, swatting back three shots in the quarter and generally running roughshod over the Motor City club.

Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson were the first subs midway through the period because the referees—content to let the teams whack the snot out of each other through the first four games—seemed determined to call a tighter game. Mikal Bridges and Jalen Duren each picked up two early fouls, Paul Reed received a technical for tickling Robinson, and Cade Cunningham drew not one but TWO offensive fouls.

Even with the more attentive whistle, look at what those degenerates from Detroit were doing to our KAT:

By the 4:21 mark, the teams had combined to shoot just 9-for-31, before McBride’s running jumper tied it at 12. New York surged ahead with a 9–1 run, but seven turnovers in the quarter—including three by Jalen Brunson—kept things messy. If they planned to close out the series tonight, they’d need to mop up this slop.

Robinson showed tireless bounce around the cup with seven boards in the frame. His play, plus McBride’s steal set up a Josh Hart layup (Hart had nine points in the quarter) and two Brunson free throws gave the Knicks a 23–22 lead at the buzzer.

Cameron Payne opened the second quarter for the Knicks, knocking down a long two (his toe just grazing the line) and promptly drawing a charge on the other end. His shift lasted only five minutes—just enough to give the captain a breather. Jalen Brunson struggled, missing his first five shots and finishing the half 1-for-7. Cade Cunningham didn’t fare much better, posting four points on 2-of-8 shooting with three fouls and three turnovers.

Tobias Harris scored seven of Detroit’s second-quarter points, and with help from Ausar Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Pistons reclaimed a five-point lead with four minutes to go in the half.

Karl-Anthony Towns continued to dominate Harris, that incessant yapper. For once, Tobias was left speechless after this:

At halftime, New York had secured a 50-49 lead. In such a tight game, the smallest details could make all the difference. The refs missed a goaltending call—when Harris rejected Bridges at the rim—and a Cunningham double-dribble, while the Knicks clanged five free throw attempts and missed nine of 12 tries from three.

et again, they couldn’t capitalize on Detroit’s shoddy downtown shooting (5-of-18), but they had won the rebounding battle (27-23) and the points in the paint (30-22). OG and KAT had 11 points apiece; for Detroit, Harris and Thompson both had 10 points.

Second Half

Seriously, what happens in the Knicks’ locker room during intermission? Tonight they continued their terrible trend of blowing third quarters, as Detroit took a lead that ballooned to ten by the five-minute mark. Tiimmy sparked the surge with a three, followed by Cunningham’s floater, free throws, and an alley-oop to Ausar Thompson.

The Knicks, meanwhile, were stagnant offensively, missing nine straight shots over nearly three minutes. Josh Hart finally broke the drought with a bucket, but the Pistons stayed in control. Five Knicks had at least three fouls, so Robinson returned to action—and proved to be a much-needed sparkplug. With big Mitch tormenting the paint, running the floor well, and even making the occasional free throw—New York cut into that double-digit deficit. When Josh Hart took a Beasley brick coast-to-coast for a layup, our heroes were down 71-70, and by the buzzer, they were behind 77-74.

With less than two minutes gone in Q4, the Knicks regained the lead with a confident Bridges breakaway bomb. He delivered another timely hoop to tie it again around the 7:30 mark. Towns collected his fifth infraction immediately after.

Cold-blooded Captain Clutch was just getting warmed up, dancing pretty to make a 15-footer and and-one compliments of Thompson to take the lead again. And Robinson gobbled up another offensive rebound for a lefty-scoop putback.

The Pistons went ahead by five when Cunningham drilled a triple—he scored 13 of his 24 points in the final period.

KAT hit a ruthless bomb with 3:25 left to tie it again. The crowd erupted—but then gasped seconds later when both Hart (fell on his back, retreated to the locker room) and Brunson (tweaking that right ankle again) were injured. Josh was hurt on this play—watch Cade with the stiff-arm again:

Without them, New York fell behind by six at the two-minute mark. They came to the scorers’ table but watched in frustration as there was no stoppage, and the clock wound down. Thibs called his final timeout at last, with 27 seconds left, in a six-point hole.

Out of the timeout, Bridges took just two seconds to hit a corner three! He had quite a quarter, scoring 13 of his 17 points, and for a moment, an impossible finish looked almost possible.

New York nearly stole the inbound, but the ball escaped them, and a fouled Dennis Schröder made one of two freebies 104-100. KAT corralled the rebound and got it to Anunoby, who made a contested three with five seconds left. Brunson fouled Cunningham immediately on the inbound. Cade hit both. Thompson fouled McBride midcourt, Deuce missed both freebies, and the Knicks couldn’t control the loose ball. Fin.

Up Next

Back to Detroit for Game Six on Thursday. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score

P.S.—Congrats again, Cap: