Knicks hold off Pistons in chaotic finish to physical Game 3, take 2-1 series lead
Ausar Thompson #9 of the Detroit Pistons defends against Jalen Brunson #11 of the Knicks during the second quarter in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena on April 24, 2025 in Detroit. Credit: Getty Images
DETROIT — The atmosphere was all that the Detroit Pistons’ players and fans had promised, a loud, pulsing cacophony at Little Caesars Arena — and chants from the crowd not suitable for print.
It carried over onto the court, where the Knicks and Pistons combined for five technical fouls, one flagrant foul, countless episodes of shoving, jawing and arguing — all befitting a playoff series that had already taken on a physical tone to get to this third game tied at one each.
And much of the chants, boos from the crowd, and jawing on the court was directed at Jalen Brunson. They should have known that Brunson — named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year a day earlier — wasn’t going to be rattled by that. And more importantly, he had the help this time.
“To Jalen those are cheers,” Tom Thibodeau said. “He lives for that stuff.”
“I mean, do I think it’s cheers?” Brunson said. “No, but it’s just another way to get me focused and stay composed.”
With four players scoring at least 20 points, the Knicks got the balance that was missing in Game 2, while Brunson still provided the spark down the stretch, scoring 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks held on for a 118-116 win to take a two games to one lead.
It didn’t come easy. With the Knicks clinging to a three-point lead, Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff furiously argued that Brunson should have been called for a backcourt violation in the waning seconds as he caught an inbounds pass from Mikal Bridges cutting toward the backcourt.
Tobias Harris hit a three with 1.1 seconds left and the Knicks quickly inbounded to Brunson, who tried to fling the ball away before being fouled, but the officials ruled he was hit with 0.5 seconds left. He calmly hit the first and then intentionally missed the second. Cade Cunningham grabbed the rebound and called time — but after initially ruling the clock had expired, officials determined on review that the horn had blown inadvertently and gave Detroit the ball to inbound in the backcourt with 0.5 seconds left.
“Shout out to the [scorer’s] table,” Towns said. “Ten years in the league and I ain’t never seen that.”
“Smart on their part,” Brunson added, the Knicks able to joke about it since Jalen Duren’s inbound pass sailed over the head of Cunningham and out of bounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 31 points while OG Anunoby added 22 and Mikal Bridges chipped in 20. Cade Cunningham had 24 but shot just 10-for-25.
After a Bridges three gave the Knicks an 11-point lead with 6:56 to play the Pistons began to chip away. Dennis Schroder’s three and a midrange jumper from Tobias Harris closed the gap to 104-101 with 4:41 to play. Unlike the first two games when the Knicks were chasing nearly the entire night, this time they took an early lead and, after a brief Detroit advantage in the second quarter, used a huge run before halftime to take control.
Detroit was fighting back, but each time the Knicks had an answer. Late in the fourth, it was Brunson, just beating the 24-second clock with a foul line jumper. After Brunson got on the floor to force a jump ball — winning it against Duren — Towns delivered a baseline jumper for a 108-101 lead with 3:01 remaining.
A follow dunk by Duren closed the gap to five and Towns was called for an offensive foul on a screen, setting up a Cunningham layup. It was a one-possession game with 2:07 left. Brunson misfired on a jumper and Cunningham dropped OG Anunoby with a spin, but Towns blocked his drive and Brunson scored on the other end. Brunson scored again on a layup after a missed Tim Hardaway Jr. three, giving the Knicks a seven-point lead with 59 seconds remaining.
After a Malik Beasley three, Towns added two free throws with 34.9 seconds left for a 114-108 lead. Hardaway Jr., who had 24 points, hit a three with 5.8 seconds left to close the gap to three, but after a timeout the Knicks inbounded to Brunson, who was fouled with 3.5 seconds left.
The first quarter featured three technical fouls, one flagrant, about two dozen uncalled body blows and a 33-27 Knicks lead when it was over.
“Playoff basketball,” Thibodeau said. “That’s part of it. Play with emotion but controlled emotion.”
The Knicks jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the opening minutes with Towns leading the way. He would score 11 points before heading to the bench briefly. More notably, he found himself in the middle of two brief scuffles, first shoving Hardaway Jr. when Towns got tangled up with Detroit defenders, then getting assessed a technical, along with Mitchell Robinson and Pistons reserve Paul Reed, who got tangled shoving each other. Towns pushed Reed from Robinson, inciting all 10 players on the court into a scrum.
With Hardaway Jr. putting up 12 first-quarter points and then back-to-back threes in the second quarter, the Pistons held a four-point lead midway through the period. But, this time, the Knicks didn’t wait for the fourth quarter to mount a run, running off a 21-3 burst and finishing the half with a 23-6 advantage over those final six minutes to take a 66-53 lead into the break.
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.
