Game 4: Knicks 94, Pistons 93 — When it matters most
Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks are headed home with a chance to clinch the series
It’s been almost 17 years since the Detroit Pistons won a playoff game on their home floor. On Sunday Jalen Brunson decided it’s best they keep on waiting.
Because that’s what superstars can do. At any given moment, in any given game, guys like Brunson can turn everyone else on their heads and force them to watch what happens next, like that meme-made guy from Netflix’s Bird Box. New York’s star guard went to the locker room in the third quarter after re-injuring his right ankle, before returning minutes later in the fourth quarter. For a fourth straight game he returned better than when he’d left us, making what followed as predictable as a formulaic rom-com: he got the girl, or in this case a lot of buckets. Brunson hung the Pistons on a picture frame in the fourth. I mean, they may as well have been standing still; none of Detroit’s self proclaimed hard-knocks harbingers could hold the Knicks superstar as he put his head down and drove to the hoop. The result? 15 points in the final frame for New York’s open-court outlaw and a 3-1 first-round series lead, one that’s been blown only three out of 85 times.
Karl-Anthony Towns had his latest, greatest Knicks playoff moment between the lines of Brunson’s headline heroics. KAT went to the post and did some toasting before sinking a three from a distance where even Stephen Curry looks mortal. Brunson and Towns outscored the Pistons 15-9 the final five minutes on 6-of-8 shooting with no turnovers.
Moments like these can make even the most pessimistic of our peers start to look at the Boston Celtics and say “Maybe.” Even still, the Pistons got the ball back with plenty of time left and a chance to win it. Cade Cunningham dribbled into a midrange jumper that bounced around and out, Tim Hardaway Jr. put up a hail mary three that was closer to patrons courtside than the basket, and the final buzzer sounded. Nothing else matters.
Notes
I’m planting my feet firmly as I type this: Towns is a playoff riser. He’s averaging 22.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.8 stocks on 53/50/100 shooting – and that includes Game 2, when he finished with just 10 points. Towns’ performance against the Pistons this season raised questions about this series. Isaiah Stewart or not, he’s handled all the adversity and foul trouble with finesse while taking it in stride. He and Brunson are vastly different players who’ve had to Venn diagram their strengths over the course of one season. I think this series is showing us what it can look like on a consistent basis in the future – really fucking good.
Coincidentally – and I’m damn near superstitious enough not to post this – the 2002-03 Pistons are the last Eastern Conference club to overcome a 1-3 first-round deficit. Of all teams, the 2019-20 Denver Nuggets are the last team to do so, period. But there’s no Nikola Jokić staring down New York from the other side of the floor. And I’m taking Brunson over Donovan Mitchell, Utah’s star player when Denver made their comeback.
Mikal Bridges had his worst game of the series on Sunday, on a day he hit two huge threes and played some superb defense down the stretch. Some Knicks fans have carried their regular-season feelings for Bridges into the postseason, and given him a far harder time than warranted. He had two threes and two steals in the fourth. That’s just not a guy I’m eager to knock.
For all the touting of Cunningham as the best player in this series, he was given a chance to make it a real conversation yesterday and fell short. Thank goodness, because the discourse over this series has been almost enough to drive somebody crazy. Me. I’m somebody. Still, Cunningham’s had a solid series and deserves his fair share of flowers. After the series ends.
A little under a year ago, the Knicks returned to Madison Square Garden up 3-1 in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. The morning after they were on their way to Philadelphia. This ain’t last year’s New York club, Lord knows. But I’d be lying if I said I was entirely confident ahead of Game 5.
This was one of those trademark Josh Hart games: 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals in 42 minutes. He even shot 3-of-5 from downtown after previously attempting only four 3-pointers all series. Hart was everywhered. Detroit’s chaotic style of play is the darkness Hart was born in and molded by. Cunningham and company merely adopted it.
Miles McBride, Cam Payne and Mitchell Robinson (sick, admittedly) left plenty to be desired in this one, combining for just 5 points on 1-of-8 shooting. If you’re looking for cause for concern, there it is. Boston’s three-man bench didn’t play much better in going up 3-1 on Orlando, but that’s not always going to be the case. New York has got to get something out of their reserves or the next round will be over before it starts.
Detroit’s done an excellent job of hanging onto the rope this series; the Knicks have yet to lead by more than 16. But the Pistons are treading water and they’ll be up to their necks come Tuesday night. It’s up to the Knicks to close the gap.