The Knicks snapped an 0-3 start with a 111-97 win over the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson described the team’s approach by looking at the World Series game from his locker. “Just continue to hit singles,” Brunson said. “Just get on base and hit singles and focus on little things until we get our rhythm.”
The win eased the semipanic surrounding the defending NBA champions, if only for a moment. Although it lacked style points, it reversed several trends that had hurt New York.
Reversing Recent Trends
The Pistons had dominated the Knicks in the regular season, winning all three meetings last season by an average of 30 points. New York also had struggled in the second half, getting outscored by 26 points across the first three games.
The Knicks blitzed Detroit in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Pistons 63-25. For that stretch, they looked like the Knicks of the playoffs. Swingman Mikal Bridges also woke up after failing to make a 3-pointer in the first three games, hitting four 3s to help deliver the conference-leading Pistons their first loss of the season.
Brown Credits Improved Effort
Knicks head coach Mike Brown pointed to a stronger overall effort. “We had more good moments in this game in totality than we did in the first three games, and that’s why we got the win,” Brown said. “Our awareness, our level of physicality on [Detroit’s shooters] was a lot better than the previous game.”
Brunson did not have a dominant night, going 5-for-18 for 23 points. He stayed aggressive, however, and forced the action. He also helped get Pistons defensive ace Ausar Thompson to foul out in the fourth quarter as Detroit attempted a late charge.
Towns Responds at Halftime
Karl-Anthony Towns again played to his personal standard. Brown reportedly challenged him at halftime to do a better job on Pistons center Paul Reed, who took on a bigger role after All-Star center Jalen Duren was injured. Reed was active early as Detroit built a 15-point lead.
“I told him the truth, ‘KAT, the guy is killing us on the glass and if he’s getting a rebound, he’s putting it back up. If he catches it on the perimeter, guard him,'” Brown said. “And he did those things. I thought that shift in mindset was big for us in the second half.”
Towns finished with 27 points and 20 rebounds. It was the 14th time he has scored at least 25 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, and the fourth time he has done so in a Knicks uniform.
“I thought we did a good job of picking up our intensity and our physicality. I said before the game for us to win this, we have to be the best version of ourselves and not worry about everything else that’s going on,” Towns said.
Containing Cunningham
Stopping Pistons All-NBA guard Cade Cunningham was the top priority. Cunningham scored 40 points in his last visit to Madison Square Garden last season, and he appeared headed for another big game before shooting 4-of-14 after the first quarter.
The Knicks locked in on Cunningham. With no other credible scoring option for Detroit, New York steadily built a sizable lead.
“Our guys realized, no I can’t react to them. I got to dictate to them what’s going to happen,” Brown said. “And do it with a smart level of physicality.”
Brown did not view one win as a turnaround. He acknowledged that growth is still needed.
“Is it fixed? No. it ain’t fixed. Nothing’s really fixed. What tonight shows us is we’re more than capable if we put our minds to it, and that’s what we got to continue to try to build off of.”