Three takeaways from Knicks' Game 5 loss to Pistons
Some thoughts on another long, strange, highly competitive battle between the Knicks and the persistently pesky Pistons on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden:
1 — The Knicks appear to be in legitimate trouble.
People who follow the NBA closely figured the Knicks were in for a battle from the brash, up-and-coming Pistons. Those people were right.
Every game in the series could have gone either way, and the Pistons believe they should have won one or both games in Detroit.
After they won Game 5, 106-103, on Tuesday night at the Garden, their best player, Cade Cunningham, even channeled a 1990s-style Patrick Ewing “guarantee” when he said this about his confidence level in forcing a Game 7 in New York on Saturday:
“Confident. We’ll be back.”
Losing Games 3 and 4 in Detroit denied Pistons fans their first home playoff victory since 2008. The Pistons are determined to change that narrative in Game 6 on Thursday.
“We’re hungry, man,” Cunningham said. “We gave both games away at the crib. Our fans did a great job of coming out, giving us a lot of energy. We dropped both of those games. We’re excited to get back home and avenge them.”
2 — Ausar Thompson is a problem for Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.
Thompson is a 22-year-old with far less experience than Brunson, his primary defensive assignment, but he has four inches of height over the Knicks guard and a growing sense of confidence in defending him.
In Game 5, Thompson had 22 points and shot 8-for-10 with seven rebounds. Brunson had 16 points and shot 4-for-16 with seven assists.
“He’s a great defender,” Brunson said. “The way he’s been able to pick up and do all the things, like I said, he’s a great defender. Me personally, as a team, we have to figure out how to combat that.”
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said five consecutive games against Brunson have been a valuable crash course for his young forward.
“He's a heck of an offensive player, phenomenal offensive player,” Bickerstaff said of Brunson. “But I think Ausar, from a mental standpoint, a want-to, there's not more people out there that want to get a stop the way that he does.
“He's gifted athletically. He's got great instincts. The fun part is he gets to see the guy over and over and over again, and then he grows every single game on understanding what's the best way to defend him and how to make it so difficult.”
3 — The Pistons love the Garden, but Tobias Harris loves it most of all.
The Pistons are 4-1 at the Garden this season, so they are comfortable there. But forward Tobias Harris, who grew up in Dix Hills, might be most comfortable of all.
After another productive night in Game 5, with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, the 13-year veteran spoke about his latest homecoming.
Asked whether he feels extra pressure being back in the New York area, he said: “No pressure. My mom and dad were sitting up there watching me. I grew up on Long Island, New York. My father used to always, on the weekends, drive me into the city to play against city competition. Every single weekend as a kid.
“So being able to go out there and play the sport that I love, and have the joy, be able to compete with this group and see my parents up there, family and friends, there's no pressure.”
Pistons coaches and teammates regularly gush about Harris’ positive influence.
“I've run out of adjectives about how I feel about Tobias, so I'll just repeat myself,” Bickerstaff said.
“He is our safety blanket. He's reliable, he's dependable, he understands what needs to happen in the moment. He's an unbelievable human being, an unbelievable teammate. He's a fierce competitor. You want me to keep going?”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
