Jalen Brunson’s 37-point night wasn’t enough as the New York Knicks dropped Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Detroit Pistons, 100-94, from Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
After surrendering a 21-0 run against the Knicks in the second half of Game 1, Detroit obtained some experience and learned from their mistakes for three quarters of Game 2.
Dennis Schröder, who’s played on three teams this season, played a huge role off the bench for Detroit. He offered both a double-digit scoring performance and a veteran presence. Schröder poured in 20 points in the team’s crucial game two victory.
Schröder knocked down a clutch 3-pointer with 56 seconds left in the game to put the Pistons up 97-94. On the other end, he smothered Brunson, preventing him from tying the basketball game.
He then knocked down one of two free-throw attempts to give Detroit a four-point lead with eight seconds left.
OG Anunoby didn’t have the same luck against Pistons star Cade Cunningham as he had on Saturday. The budding All-Star poured in 33 points, snatched 12 rebounds, and dished out three assists.
For a few moments in the fourth quarter, Monday night at MSG had all the feelings of Game 1. A couple of crucial stops by New York’s defense, costly turnovers from Detroit, and clutch shots from Brunson had the Knicks on another late run. The pressure started to build, and Detroit’s lack of experience bled through at the Garden.
New York’s defensive performance was rough all night, though. The Pistons shot 44.6% from the field, and while they struggled from behind the arc, they did some damage at the charity stripe; Detroit went 28-34 (82.3%) from the free-throw line.
New York made 16 of their 19 free-throw attempts, but the Pistons got to the line 15 more times than the Knicks.
“He [Brunson] battled like crazy,” Thibodeau said. “Huge discrepancy in free-throws, huge. I’ve got to take a look at that.”
Brunson knocked down crucial shots when his team needed him most, even locking up Cunningham on a crucial defensive possession with just over two minutes to go in the fourth. He simply put the team on his back, but it wasn’t enough to come out victorious.
A crucial part of this game was Ausar Thompson fouling out in the fourth quarter. Brunson was inefficient from the field when Thompson was guarding him; Schröder couldn’t hang with Brunson.
Karl-Anthony Towns struggled offensively even without Isaiah Stewart (knee) on the court. Towns had just 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting and was a minus-10 when on the court. The five-time All-Star scored zero points in the second half.
“Rebounding was problematic the whole night, so that’s probably the difference in the game,” said Knicks’ head coach Tom Thibodeau.
The Pistons out-rebounded New York 48-34.
Mikal Bridges had 19 points, but he also did not record a point in the fourth quarter. The two summer trade acquisitions for the Knicks were held scoreless in the crucial part of the game.
In order for the Knicks to win this series, they’ll need more offensively from Towns. Brunson can’t do it all against this stingy Pistons defense.
Game 3 between these two teams is on Thursday. Tip-off from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit is set for 7 p.m. ET.
