Shorthanded Knicks crumble in second-half, fall 115-106 to Pistons

The Knicks held a 13-point third-quarter lead, but a poor-shooting second half and a turnover-filled fourth quarter sentenced the shorthanded side to a 115-106 defeat at the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night.

Playing without Josh Hart (knee), OG Anunoby (thumb), and Mitchell Robinson (injury management), New York didn’t have enough from Karl-Anthony Towns or Jalen Brunson to overcome the missing pieces and succumbed to a hot-shooting Detroit side that could be a tough matchup come playoff time.

The Knicks led for most of the game, leading by double-digits for long stretches, but the Pistons’ physical play saw them by nine with two minutes to play. Brunson had a good look from three to cut the lead to two with 38 seconds to play, but he drew iron. The Knicks guard had just three second-half points as he went 1-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line.

Here are the takeaways…

– “Yup, two!” Brunson said before adding an emphatic toss of his thumb after Cade Cunningham picked up his second foul just five minutes into the game. But the foul trouble did not halt the Pistons’ leading scorer, who remained in the game and scored eight in the first.  Instead, it was Towns who was forced to the bench with three personals after he committed offensive fouls on back-to-back possessions early in the second quarter, which limited him to just 11 minutes of first-half action with six points, four rebounds, and three assists.

Cunningham, who picked up his third foul before the half, was able to thrive despite the fouls. The Detroit guard poured in 30 points (13-for-19 from the field) through three quarters and helped the home side with a 20-7 run to close the gap and tie the score entering the fourth. 

Towns appeared to come alive in the fourth, scoring six straight Knicks points. But he committed four turnovers in the quarter, and the Pistons soon led by six. He finished with 25 points (10-for-19) with 10 rebounds and five assists, but seven turnovers meant he was a minus-5 in 29 minutes.

Cunningham finished with 36 points (connecting on 9-for-13 in the second half alone) and was a plus-9 in 35 minutes.

– Brunson and Miles McBride each had 12 points in the first half, and that was it for their impact as they combined to go 1-for-18 from the floor in the second half. Brunson (5-for-15 for the game, 3-for-9 from deep) finished a minus-11 in 29 minutes. McBride (5-for-18, 2-for-10 from deep) was a minus-15 in 39 minutes.

– Precious Achiuwa, in the starting lineup, poured in 13 first-half points (10 in the opening quarter) with a few emphatic dunks. Achiuwa continued to shine in the third, including a special sequence blocking a Cunningham three, running the floor for a skip pass leading to an and-1 slam to give him 18 points (8-for-13) in the game.

But he didn’t attempt a shot in the fourth. He had 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, two steals, and was a minus-7 in 39 minutes.

– With the Knicks shorthanded, it was P.J. Tucker, the first man off the bench. The second unit to close the first quarter was Tucker, Achiuwa, Landry Shamet, Cam Payne, and Delon Wright and that group helped give the Knicks a six-point lead after 12 minutes of play.

– The Knicks connected on 67 percent (16-for-24) from the floor in the first quarter and 50 percent (9-for-18) in the second for a 62-56 lead at the interveal. But Detroit hit 55 percent in the first half (23-for-42) to keep pace and limit the pace of the game, as well.

The home team kept the pace in the third (58 percent, 11-for-19), and the visitors did not connect on just 32 percent (9-for-28, including 2-for-11 from deep). That continued in the fourth, New York shot 40 percent (8-for-20) in the fourth as Detroit connected on 62 percent (13-for-21).

What’s next

The Knicks return to New York for their final two games of the regular season, first playing the home finale Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the Cleveland Cavaliers before heading across the East River for Sunday’s 1 p.m. tip at the Nets.

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