Cade Cunningham and the Pistons have tied up their series with the Knicks. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
The Detroit Pistons kept it together down the stretch at Madison Square Garden this time.
And, finally, the franchise’s brutal postseason losing streak is over.
The Pistons, after fumbling late in Game 1 of the opening-round playoff series on Saturday, held on to grab a tight 100-94 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night. That evened their series 1-1 before it heads back to Detroit on Thursday.
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While it wasn’t a great shooting night for the Knicks all around — they shot a brutal 6-27 from the 3-point line — it was Cade Cunningham that made the difference. Cunningham, who dropped 20 points in the first half alone, finished with 33 points.
Remarkably, it was the Pistons’ first playoff game win since 2008. Their 15 straight losses was the longest active losing streak in the league.
No Isaiah Stewart for Detroit
The Pistons were without big man Isaiah Stewart on Monday night due to right knee inflammation.
The team ruled him out with the injury, which also kept him out of their final two regular season games, just a few hours before tip. Stewart played through his injury in their Game 1 loss on Saturday, though he appeared to be struggling. He had two points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. He asked to be pulled from the game in the fourth quarter, when the Pistons still held the lead, but then they gave up a 21-0 run and ended up losing.
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“I think we all felt it,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Stewart on Sunday, via the Detroit Free Press. “He was phenomenal last night. His effort, how he protected the rim, the energy that he brought, how his teammates fed off of his injury was huge.
“When he’s not on the floor for us, we all have to bring that. We have to find a way because we can’t just lean on him all the time or expect it to just be him. We have to play with that same ferociousness and that effort that he does.”
It’s unclear how long Stewart will be sidelined, or if he’ll be available for Game 3.
Pistons up early, again
Detroit appeared to put its fourth-quarter stumble behind it in the first half.
The Pistons took a six-point lead into the locker room behind a huge first half from Cunningham. He dropped 20 points in the first two quarters, including a huge layup in the final seconds before halftime, to keep the Pistons in control. They broke open a double digit lead early in the second period, too, but the Knicks fought back slightly.
Cade Cunningham, Pistons hang on
The Pistons immediately pushed their lead in the third quarter, too, opening the period on a 13-4 run. Half of that came from Cunningham, too, and they shut the Knicks down almost completely offensively. New York missed 10 of its first 11 field goal attempts in the quarter, and the Knicks were suddenly down by 15 points.
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That, though, didn’t last long. The Knicks finally started making their shots and cut the deficit to just eight points by the end of the quarter despite managing just 18 points as a group in that period.
The Knicks then went on a long 16-4 tear in what was a close and contentious finish. Jalen Brunson left the game briefly for the locker room with an apparent injury after powering that run, but he came back in less than a minute later seemingly fine. The two teams got into a brief altercation after he left, too, though nothing came of it.
But, as quick as the comeback was mounted, the Pistons finished the job. They hit a rare 3-pointer, Dennis Schröder connected from 25 feet, and then both Brunson and Mikal Bridges missed multiple attempts from behind the arc in the final minute that could’ve tied the game again. Detroit hit three free throws in the final 10 seconds to push it to the six-point win and give them their first postseason win in more than 15 years.
Cunningham had 12 rebounds and three assists to go with his 33 points in the win for the Pistons. Schröder added 20 points off the bench, and accounted for half of the team’s made 3-pointers. Tobias Harris finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, too. The Pistons, despite not having Stewart available, still out-rebounded the Knicks 48-34.
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Brunson led the Knicks with 37 points and seven assists in the loss. He went just 4-of-11 from deep. Bridges added 19 points and five rebounds, and Towns finished with 10 points and six rebounds. He didn’t score at all in the second half, and shot just 5-11 from the field.
The two teams will run it back in Detroit on Thursday, which hasn’t hosted a playoff game since 2019 when the team was swept in the opening round. This is just Detroit’s fourth playoff appearance since it made the Eastern Conference finals three straight times from 2006-08.
While a home win over the next two games would be historic for the franchise — the last one came on May 26, 2008 — it would go a long way in keeping Brunson and the Knicks from running away with the series. Returning to Manhattan in a 3-1 hole isn’t a battle the Pistons want to face.
Ryan Young
