There’s no such factor as taking the combat out of the Detroit Pistons. And if the Knicks have designs on a second-round showdown with the defending champion Boston Celtics, they’ll have to win three extra battles — not simply the one which turned The Backyard right into a madhouse Saturday night time.
Recreation 1 was a take a look at of nerve. For 3 quarters, Detroit refused to blink. The Knicks fell behind by as many as 9. Then the fourth quarter hit — and with it, the type of avalanche solely a veteran playoff crew can summon. The Knicks unleashed a 21-0 run that flipped the sport, the momentum, and the temper within the constructing abruptly.
A tightrope act grew to become a observe meet. The Knicks received, 123-112.
However within the playoffs, one win doesn’t imply a factor with out the following one. The Knicks aren’t naive sufficient to suppose an exclamation level to cap recreation one means clean crusing in Recreation 2.
“Nah not at all, cause they’re a more dangerous team tomorrow than they were in Game 1,” stated Josh Hart after observe Sunday in Tarrytown. “Whenever you come off a loss — a loss they feel like they probably could have won, that they should have won — how they feel: Today you’re feeling bad, you’re listening to your coach showing you different plays on film of how this play could have impacted a game, and you have a little more of a chip on your shoulder and you’re going out with added physicality, added energy, so they’re a dangerous team.”
For the Knicks, that fourth-quarter blitz could possibly be a spark. For the Pistons, it’s probably gas. The lesson for Detroit: That is what playoff basketball seems like when the partitions shut in. When the gang surges. When the margin of error vanishes.
“That was Game 1. I think the way the game ended, obviously it ended in our favor, but I think they’re gonna be ready for Game 2,” Jalen Brunson stated. “We’re gonna have to be ready for Game 2, and we’re gonna have to reset. Yesterday is yesterday, happy we came away with a win but tomorrow’s a new day.”
Detroit is aware of this. They aren’t going anyplace. Neither is their perception they’ll claw their method again into this collection.
“Our team is grit and grind,” stated sharpshooter Malik Beasley. “They beat us the first time in the regular season [and the Pistons won the last three], so we’re trying to do the same thing: come back, bounce back, make adjustments and do what we gotta do.”
The hole in expertise was clear. Saturday was Detroit’s first postseason recreation since 2019. Which means Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson, and rookie Ron Holland had been all feeling the second for the primary time. Cunningham was productive — 21 factors, 12 assists — however wanted 21 pictures to get there beneath OG Anunoby’s hounding protection. Thompson, his main defensive task, picked up 5 fouls and sat for lengthy stretches. Duren completed minus-20 in 25 minutes. Stewart battled by means of an harm and picked up 5 fouls of his personal.
It wasn’t only a loss. For a younger crew, it was an schooling.
“I think for us it was a learning experience of what fourth-quarter basketball is like in the postseason,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated after a movie session on Sunday. “It’s a mentality of if you don’t win this game or these games, your season’s over with. And the mentality that people have when their back is against the wall and how you have to match that, and I thought the Knicks did a great job in that fourth quarter of playing with a sense of urgency. I think for us, this is our first experience of it, how quickly do you learn? Talking to the guys, watching film with the guys, having conversations with the guys, they saw it and felt it. Now it’s on us to make that adjustment.”
The Pistons could also be younger. They could be behind within the collection. However their mindset continues to be intact.
“There’s no doubt about it,” stated Bickerstaff. “We don’t waver in that.”
And the Knicks? They know they’ll’t coast on one good quarter — irrespective of how loud it obtained, or how emphatic the run.
“I don’t think one game does anything. They’re gonna be a little more desperate, a little bit more physical, a little more energetic, a little bit more focused, so we’ve gotta make sure we rise to the occasion,” Hart stated. “That’s the playoffs. You don’t wanna get too high after you win a game. We get happy we win Game 1, and we loosen up a bit, and their physicality gets them the game. That’s what we don’t want.”
“That’s the challenge of the playoffs: It’s one game, and that’s what it is,” added Tom Thibodeau. “You’ve got to get ready for the next. You have to reset. You got to do it all over again, and you have to have the right mindset. In this league, you start feeling too good by yourself, that’s when you get knocked down.”
Saturday was a swing. Recreation 2 could be a slugfest. The Knicks landed the primary punch.
The Pistons are coming again swinging. The Knicks higher have their guard up. They’ve already proven us they’ll counter with a flurry of haymakers that may flip a collection onto its head.
