Knicks standing up to Pistons and proving to be tough enough

DETROIT — The Knicks’ two-game stay at Little Caesars Arena began with a video on the scoreboard heralding the physicality of this version of the Detroit Pistons and there was no shortage of applause as members of the original Bad Boys were introduced around the court.

So it may have seemed odd when the Knicks escaped their stay in Detroit with a pair of wins, a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and in their wake the Pistons griping about the no-call by officials.  After a postgame review,  officials said there was “more than marginal contact” on the final play Sunday afternoon.

 It was perhaps telling that the Pistons were blaming the no-call on the final play while the Knicks headed home with a chance to close out the series not focused on the body blows they’d taken from the young Pistons squad but on keeping their composure and focusing on the task at hand.

The Knicks have not proved to be far superior to the sixth-seeded Pistons and maybe haven’t convinced anyone that this rebuilt version of the team is up to the task ahead if they finish off the first-round series, likely taking on the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But what they have proved is that despite the criticism and questions they are tougher in mind and body than predicted.

“It’s just the toughness, man,” Josh Hart said. “Everyone talks about this team: ‘We don’t have the physicality. We don’t do this. We don’t do that.’ We tune that out. At one point, I think we were down 10 in that fourth quarter and we just got stops. Our guys, [Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns], knocked down shots. But we got stops . . . It was a full team effort.”

The Knicks can point to the heroics of Brunson and now Towns. But it’s been players like Hart and the rest of the less heralded core of the team that have emerged to do the dirty work required to move on. Mikal Bridges shot terribly most of the day Sunday and OG Anunoby was just as bad, but their defense on Cade Cunningham and the Detroit wings has made the Pistons' promise of physicality turn into a march through mud.

And Hart has done so many things that don’t show up in the box score while filling up nearly every category. The controversial ending came because he was tangled up with Tobias Harris under the rim fighting for a rebound of Cunningham’s missed jumper and scrambled out to contest the shot. If Brunson and Towns provided the offense, Hart delivered the hustle.

“Mental toughness to me is the belief you can always do things better,” Tom Thibodeau said. “I know we have a mentally tough team and we understand it’s a big part of winning. I think when you look at playoffs a lot of times you see there’s a lot of one-possession games, and you don’t know what possession is going to be the difference.

“That’s why every possession does matter and you should fight to win every possession. And so, you get a couple stops in a row and you get a hustle play. And the next thing you know you are on a run. You have to have the belief and the toughness, but I also think the discipline has to be a priority for everybody."

This is the style and series that the Pistons wanted and if there was any matchup that seemed frightening to a Knicks team that carried a reputation for not being as tough as they were a year ago this was it. But the Knicks have not only absorbed the hits with little complaint, but they’ve come through in three of these games in the fourth quarter, executing and delivering clutch moments.

“I mean it’s competition,” Towns said. “It’s the NBA playoffs. You expect nothing but the greatest competition right now in NBA basketball this season. You go out there, you want to match their physicality. You understand you’re in Detroit. You’re playing Detroit, who hasn’t been in the playoffs, and they have a lot of pride right now. They haven’t seen the playoffs in a while so they want to fight for their city.

“And as much as they want to fight for their city, we’re trying to fight for our city. I think this is a great series for the NBA. I think it gives a little bit of old-school vibes. I think this is great for kids watching who haven’t been able to see old-school basketball to see this kind of reminiscent game of old-school physicality, and I’m just honored to be part of it.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.