Blood, sweat and Knicks

The playoffs have begun – and it shows. Especially in the Eastern Conference, where tradition demands pain, intensity and survival to move forward. That’s exactly the landscape facing the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons, two of the NBA’s most historic franchises. The Knicks, third in the regular season, are chasing a long-awaited return to the Eastern Conference Finals – their first since the year 2000. It’s been 25 years of heartbreak and false dawns for a team that once helped write the early history of the league.

The Pistons, meanwhile, are back in the postseason after a long exile. They hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2019, and only a year ago suffered through one of the worst seasons in the sport’s history. Many believed the damage was terminal. And yet, here they are, back from the brink, facing one of their classic rivals in what promises to be a series drenched in grit, chaos and collision. It’s already living up to that promise.

What went down in Pistons-Knicks Game 1?

Game 1 didn’t disappoint. The Knicks, who last year survived an epic first-round war against the Sixers, find themselves once again in the middle of a series where tactics often give way to attrition. The Pistons arrived with a clear plan: wear their opponent down. Pure abrasion, nothing subtle about it. New York, for its part, had its own internal battles to win – namely, the eternal question of whether Tom Thibodeau’s stubborn reliance on tight rotations will finally catch up to his team when it matters most.

Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart led the NBA in minutes played this season. OG Anunoby ranked ninth. The trio came into the postseason already carrying fatigue, and Thibodeau has never been known for lightening workloads in April. He didn’t disappoint. In Game 1, Anunoby played 44 minutes, Jalen Brunson passed the 40-minute mark, and Karl-Anthony Towns was just behind. It’s the Thibodeau way: run your horses and see who’s left standing.

And yet, it worked. The Pistons led 98–90 early in the fourth quarter. Cade Cunningham was on the bench, but Detroit had built a cushion. Then everything unraveled. The Knicks unleashed a 21–0 run. Madison Square Garden erupted. Patrick Ewing stood to applaud, the ghosts of the ’90s flickering in the rafters. New York never looked back. The Pistons clawed to within six points – 118–112 – with just over a minute remaining, but the Knicks managed the final possessions with maturity and poise. Final score: 123–112, and a 1–0 lead for a team desperate to take the next step.

Jalen Brunson was the catalyst, scoring 34 points, including 12 in the final quarter. He shifted gears at just the right moment, delivering grace and grit in equal measure. Karl-Anthony Towns was immense on both ends, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks – a complete performance that held the Knicks together in their toughest stretches. Anunoby matched Towns in points, added 7 rebounds and 5 steals, and looked every bit the two-way anchor they hoped he’d be. Josh Hart added 13 points in just under 30 minutes – light duty for a player often glued to the court. And off the bench, Cameron Payne exploded for 14 points in 14 minutes, including 11 in that decisive 21–0 stretch.

Detroit didn’t lack effort. Cade Cunningham logged 21 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists. Tobias Harris poured in 25. Malik Beasley scored 20 and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 19. But the Pistons crumbled in the final minutes, plagued by 19 turnovers, six of them in the fourth quarter. They shot 7-of-22 in the final period, failed to score for five straight minutes, and lost control at precisely the wrong time.

That’s where experience counts. And for all their youth, the Pistons looked overwhelmed in the game’s defining moments. The Knicks, hardened by previous playoff failures, stayed composed.

A painful series in store

This series is going to hurt. It’s going to be long, bloody and wild. Detroit has speed and fury, but it also has players making their playoff debuts – Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren – and that lack of seasoning showed late. They’ll not want to be heading back to Detroit two down so will need to fight even harder in Game 2. But tradition weighs heavily in the East, and home court has always mattered more here than anywhere else.

And for tradition, there are few matchups better than Knicks vs Pistons. It delivered in Game 1 – not with finesse, but with rebounds, bruises and battle cries. Just how playoff basketball is supposed to be.

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New York Knicks

Stats

8 OG Anunoby
3 Josh Hart
32 Karl-Anthony Towns
25 Mikal Bridges
11 Jalen Brunson
5 Precious Achiuwa
4 Pacôme Dadiet
55 Ariel Hukporti
13 Tyler Kolek
2 Miles McBride
1 Cameron Payne
23 Mitchell Robinson
44 Landry Shamet
17 P.J. Tucker
0 Delon Wright

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
8 OG Anunoby	44	23	7	3	4	0	2	5	2	4/4	5/10	3/8	0	3	0
3 Josh Hart	29	13	7	2	5	6	2	0	1	0/0	5/9	1/1	0	3	0
32 Karl-Anthony Towns	39	23	11	0	11	5	0	4	2	2/2	9/11	1/3	0	3	0
25 Mikal Bridges	28	8	2	0	2	2	0	0	2	0/0	4/7	0/2	0	3	0
11 Jalen Brunson	40	34	2	0	2	8	1	0	0	8/10	10/22	2/5	0	3	0
5 Precious Achiuwa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
4 Pacôme Dadiet	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
55 Ariel Hukporti	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Tyler Kolek	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
2 Miles McBride	15	0	1	0	1	4	2	1	0	0/0	0/1	0/2	0	2	0
1 Cameron Payne	14	14	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	1/1	2/2	3/5	0	3	0
23 Mitchell Robinson	17	6	6	3	3	0	0	1	2	0/0	3/3	0/0	0	1	0
44 Landry Shamet	10	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0/0	1/2	0/0	0	0	0
17 P.J. Tucker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Delon Wright	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Detroit Pistons

Stats

12 Tobias Harris
9 Ausar Thompson
0 Jalen Duren
2 Cade Cunningham
8 Tim Hardaway Jr.
5 Malik Beasley
19 Simone Fontecchio
13 Ron Harper Jr.
0 Ron Holland II
34 Bobi Klintman
7 Paul Reed
25 Marcus Sasser
17 Dennis Schröder
28 Isaiah Stewart
43 Lindy Waters III

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
12 Tobias Harris	39	25	6	0	6	0	1	0	2	5/5	4/8	4/5	0	0	0
9 Ausar Thompson	22	10	6	0	6	1	3	0	0	2/3	4/8	0/0	0	5	0
0 Jalen Duren	24	7	6	5	1	3	1	1	3	1/2	3/4	0/0	0	4	0
2 Cade Cunningham	39	21	6	1	5	12	6	0	0	4/5	7/17	1/4	0	3	0
8 Tim Hardaway Jr.	27	19	2	1	1	1	2	1	0	2/3	4/5	3/8	0	0	0
5 Malik Beasley	34	20	4	1	3	2	2	2	1	0/0	1/4	6/12	0	2	0
19 Simone Fontecchio	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Ron Harper Jr.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Ron Holland II	6	0	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0	0	0
34 Bobi Klintman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
7 Paul Reed	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
25 Marcus Sasser	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
17 Dennis Schröder	25	8	0	0	0	3	2	2	1	1/2	2/6	1/2	0	2	0
28 Isaiah Stewart	18	2	5	1	4	1	0	0	2	0/0	1/2	0/0	0	5	0
43 Lindy Waters III	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0