The Knicks lost Game 5 to the Detroit Pistons, 106-103, on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the takeaways…
-With the chance to close out a playoff series at home for the first time since 1999, the Knicks looked a little discombobulated in the first six to seven minutes, scoring just seven points before Josh Hart‘s corner three with 4:57 left in the quarter got New York closer and made it 12-10 Detroit. The triple was the Knicks’ only made three of the quarter as they shot 16.7 percent (1-for-6) from deep.
-Hart led all scorers after 12 minutes with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting while usual scoring suspects Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson combined for just five points in the opening quarter. Brunson went 0-for-3 from the field and had two of New York’s six turnovers in the quarter. He also uncharacteristically missed two free throws, but had four assists in a low-scoring period where the Knicks shot 37.5 percent from the floor.
-The Pistons weren’t much better, shooting 29.2 percent from the field. Cade Cunningham had an abysmal quarter with two points and two fouls, including an offensive foul against Hart while bringing the ball up the court with 1:33 left in the first. The foul was initiated by the cagey veteran Hart after scoring a layup and seemed to give New York the momentum to finish the quarter on a 9-2 run and go into the second quarter with a 23-22 lead.
–Mitchell Robinson had seven of his 11 rebounds in just six minutes in the first quarter, five of them on the offensive glass.
-After a few misses to start the second quarter, the offense began clicking for both sides. For the Knicks, Towns came alive and scored nine while OG Anunoby had seven in just over a minute.
-On the Pistons’ side Tobias Harris became a man on a mission after getting poked in the eye early in the quarter and scored seven points on three straight makes. He cooled off after that but Ausar Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. made up the difference with Cunningham still hardly a factor.
-Coming out of the break with a 50-49 advantage, New York quickly lost its lead as Cunningham started to come around and Detroit’s role players continued to hit shots. The Knicks’ deficit grew to as big as 10 points with 4:29 left in the quarter as Thompson knocked down a couple of free throws to make it 71-61.
-From that point on it was a total team effort to get back into the game as New York went on a 9-0 run to cut the Pistons’ lead to one. Malik Beasley put an end to his team’s scoring drought with a couple of made shots and Detroit, desperate to keep its season alive, went into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead.
–Mikal Bridges, quiet for most of the game, gave the Knicks their first lead since early in the third quarter with a three-pointer with 10:03 left in the game. 13 of Bridges’ 17 points came in the fourth as he did his best to keep his team alive.
-After Robinson knotted things up at 90 with a two-pointer with 5:15 remaining and Towns tied it again with a deep three nearly two minutes later that sent the crowd at Madison Square Garden into a frenzy, the Pistons retook the lead and did not relinquish it, surviving multiple huge shots by New York down the stretch to cut the lead.
Bridges made his second three of the quarter with 25.1 seconds left to make it 103-100 and Anunoby somehow saw a contested shot from downtown go in to get the Knicks to within one with seven ticks left. But with ice in his veins, the 23-year-old Cunningham calmly hit two free throws and New York couldn’t get a final shot off, losing 106-103.
-Neither Brunson nor Cunningham shot the ball well at all in this one, but they both made their money by getting to the free throw line. Cunningham, who finished with 24 points, went 11-for-12 at the stripe while Brunson had 16 points and went 7-for-10 from the line.
-As a team, the Knicks went 16-for-27 (59.3 percent) from the free-throw line which cost them the game.
Game MVP: Cade Cunningham
With just four points at halftime, Cunningham stayed with it in the second half and finished with a game-high 24 points.
Highlights
KAT throws it down 💪
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/hyS4rvLuxx
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 29, 2025
Josh Hart from the corner 🎯
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/BSwshKKTaq
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
BLOCKED BY ANUNOBY!
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/c18O9ABRNP
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
Cam Payne for three!
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/lg2QKhUpnU
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
OG is ballin’ 💪
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/mvo5BTN9bb
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
KAT WITH THE AND-ONE AND HE CHIRPS TOBIAS HARRIS
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/S0HamF9sha
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
HUSTLE FROM HART + A BUCKET FROM KAT
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/zDjxdktfYm
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
Josh Hart to the basket 💪
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/jLk0oJfhlH
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
OG with the tough finish!
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/tCHJw634Em
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
What’s next
The Knicks will have another chance to close out the series on Thursday night in Detroit. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Knicks lost Game 5 to the Detroit Pistons, 106-103, on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the takeaways…
-With the chance to close out a playoff series at home for the first time since 1999, the Knicks looked a little discombobulated in the first six to seven minutes, scoring just seven points before Josh Hart‘s corner three with 4:57 left in the quarter got New York closer and made it 12-10 Detroit. The triple was the Knicks’ only made three of the quarter as they shot 16.7 percent (1-for-6) from deep.
-Hart led all scorers after 12 minutes with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting while usual scoring suspects Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson combined for just five points in the opening quarter. Brunson went 0-for-3 from the field and had two of New York’s six turnovers in the quarter. He also uncharacteristically missed two free throws, but had four assists in a low-scoring period where the Knicks shot 37.5 percent from the floor.
-The Pistons weren’t much better, shooting 29.2 percent from the field. Cade Cunningham had an abysmal quarter with two points and two fouls, including an offensive foul against Hart while bringing the ball up the court with 1:33 left in the first. The foul was initiated by the cagey veteran Hart after scoring a layup and seemed to give New York the momentum to finish the quarter on a 9-2 run and go into the second quarter with a 23-22 lead.
–Mitchell Robinson had seven of his 11 rebounds in just six minutes in the first quarter, five of them on the offensive glass.
-After a few misses to start the second quarter, the offense began clicking for both sides. For the Knicks, Towns came alive and scored nine while OG Anunoby had seven in just over a minute.
-On the Pistons’ side Tobias Harris became a man on a mission after getting poked in the eye early in the quarter and scored seven points on three straight makes. He cooled off after that but Ausar Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. made up the difference with Cunningham still hardly a factor.
-Coming out of the break with a 50-49 advantage, New York quickly lost its lead as Cunningham started to come around and Detroit’s role players continued to hit shots. The Knicks’ deficit grew to as big as 10 points with 4:29 left in the quarter as Thompson knocked down a couple of free throws to make it 71-61.
-From that point on it was a total team effort to get back into the game as New York went on a 9-0 run to cut the Pistons’ lead to one. Malik Beasley put an end to his team’s scoring drought with a couple of made shots and Detroit, desperate to keep its season alive, went into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead.
–Mikal Bridges, quiet for most of the game, gave the Knicks their first lead since early in the third quarter with a three-pointer with 10:03 left in the game. 13 of Bridges’ 17 points came in the fourth as he did his best to keep his team alive.
-After Robinson knotted things up at 90 with a two-pointer with 5:15 remaining and Towns tied it again with a deep three nearly two minutes later that sent the crowd at Madison Square Garden into a frenzy, the Pistons retook the lead and did not relinquish it, surviving multiple huge shots by New York down the stretch to cut the lead.
Bridges made his second three of the quarter with 25.1 seconds left to make it 103-100 and Anunoby somehow saw a contested shot from downtown go in to get the Knicks to within one with seven ticks left. But with ice in his veins, the 23-year-old Cunningham calmly hit two free throws and New York couldn’t get a final shot off, losing 106-103.
-Neither Brunson nor Cunningham shot the ball well at all in this one, but they both made their money by getting to the free throw line. Cunningham, who finished with 24 points, went 11-for-12 at the stripe while Brunson had 16 points and went 7-for-10 from the line.
-As a team, the Knicks went 16-for-27 (59.3 percent) from the free-throw line which cost them the game.
Game MVP: Cade Cunningham
With just four points at halftime, Cunningham stayed with it in the second half and finished with a game-high 24 points.
Highlights
KAT throws it down 💪
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/hyS4rvLuxx
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 29, 2025
Josh Hart from the corner 🎯
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/BSwshKKTaq
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
BLOCKED BY ANUNOBY!
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/c18O9ABRNP
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
Cam Payne for three!
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/lg2QKhUpnU
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
OG is ballin’ 💪
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/mvo5BTN9bb
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
KAT WITH THE AND-ONE AND HE CHIRPS TOBIAS HARRIS
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/S0HamF9sha
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
HUSTLE FROM HART + A BUCKET FROM KAT
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/zDjxdktfYm
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
Josh Hart to the basket 💪
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/jLk0oJfhlH
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
OG with the tough finish!
(via @nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/tCHJw634Em
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 30, 2025
What’s next
The Knicks will have another chance to close out the series on Thursday night in Detroit. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
