The New York Knicks held on to defeat the Detroit Pistons 118-112 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are some takeaways...
- Tom Thibodeau stuck with his usual starting five of Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson. Eight Pistons turnovers in the first few minutes helped the Knicks work through some early struggles to establish a lead.
The point guards on both sides got off to a strong start with Brunson dropping 16 points in the first quarter, including three three-pointers, and Cade Cunningham scored nine of the Detroit's first 13 points. Randle added nine points of his own and reeled in six rebounds for New York as they were able to jump out to a 14 point lead (31-17) at the end of one.
- The Knicks' second unit struggled to open the second quarter and a 13-0 Pistons run quickly cut it down to just a one possession game. Thibodeau turned back to the majority of his starters and back-to-back threes from Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo got them back in a groove.
Brunson completed a four-point play just a few minutes later, pushing him over the 20-point mark a little over halfway through the second quarter. The teams would trade baskets back and forth, but a Pistons surge towards the end of the half helped them even things up at 54 heading into the break.
The Knicks put together perhaps one of their worst halves of the season on both ends of the floor, getting outrebounded 27-22. They also struggled from behind the arc, with Brunson shooting 5-of-7 and everyone else sinking just 3-of-17 attempts.
- Brunson picked up right where he left off, dropping New York's first eight points of the second half, but Detroit stayed hot from the field and continued to get almost every 50/50 ball to help keep things close.
- The Pistons took their first lead since early in the first quarter on a Marcus Sasser three with just under five minutes remaining in the third, and after trading baskets down the stretch, they found themselves up by two heading into the final frame.
- The second unit got off to a strong start in the fourth, but they continued trading baskets with the red-hot Pistons. Three straight baskets from DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, and Randle pushed the lead up to six, which was the largest of the second-half.
- Detroit continued to hang around, but the Villanova boys led the way for New York down the stretch with Brunson and DiVincenzo hitting some huge shots and clutch free throws over the final few minutes to help hold on for the win.
Brunson finished with 42 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Randle dropped 29 points of his own and finished two assists shy of a triple-double (nine rebounds, eight assists). DiVincenzo drilled four huge threes off the bench for his 12 points and Hart contributed seven of his own to go along with seven rebounds.
For Detroit, Cunningham and Killian Hayes combined for 51 points for keep them in the game, but it wasn't enough as they saw their losing streak fall to 16 games.