Every sport of a dramatic, unpredictable first-round playoff sequence between the No. 3 Knicks and No. 6 Detroit Pistons has ended with its personal twist. Recreation 5, a 106-103 Knicks loss at Madison Sq. Backyard, got here right down to a choice — and the coach’s name was to not name timeout.
“It’s tough,” stated Jalen Brunson, the NBA’s newly minted Clutch Participant of the Yr, after watching the ultimate moments unfold from the sidelines. “But I have the utmost faith regardless of the result in my teammates. Whoever is out there: trust, faith, belief, all that. I’ll always have that with my teammates.”
The Knicks arrived at The Backyard with a 3-1 sequence lead and a shot at closing out a playoff sequence on their dwelling ground for the primary time since 1999. They constructed a 16-point first-half lead, then noticed it erased. The Knicks fell behind by 11 within the fourth quarter, then misplaced each Brunson and Josh Hart to damage in a two-possession span down the stretch.
“We didn’t know when they were coming back, if they were coming back,” stated head coach Tom Thibodeau. “So that’s part of it.”
Hart went to the locker room. Brunson turned his ankle and limped to the bench with 2:57 left in regulation. A minute later — with the Knicks trailing by six after a Cade Cunningham floater — each walked to the scorer’s desk, able to verify again in.
However with just one timeout remaining and 4 workforce fouls, Thibodeau confronted a dilemma. Deliberately fouling would ship the Pistons to the road, risking an eight-point deficit with lower than two minutes on the clock. Burning the ultimate timeout would depart the Knicks weak within the occasion of one other lifeless ball state of affairs.
“You look at the time, score, penalty, timeouts, all of the above, what’s happening in the game, the next possession,” Thibodeau stated. “We’re weighing — there’s a lot that goes into it.”
Thibodeau didn’t foul. He didn’t name timeout. The coach as a substitute opted to attend.
“[Intentionally fouling is] tough because you’re not trying to foul,” stated Hart. “We got stops, we got good looks. Like I said, I trust my guys. Wasn’t our day today. We’ll regroup, watch the film, learn from it. Then we’ve got another one on Thursday.”
Practically two-and-a-half minutes of sport time ticked away earlier than Thibodeau used his timeout with 27.4 seconds left in regulation. When Brunson and Hart checked again in, the Knicks have been nonetheless in a six-point gap, solely there wasn’t a lot time left to do something about it.
The Knicks have been chasing a sport that had gotten away from them.
“Obviously that’s tough. You want to be out there,” Hart stated. “But we had good looks. I trust my guys. We had a couple good shots to cut that lead. They just didn’t go in. It’s basketball. It happens.”
And with that, the Pistons walked out of Madison Sq. Backyard with new life — and trimmed the Knicks’ sequence result in 3-2.
Brunson, whose 21 crunch-time factors ranks atop all playoff performers, didn’t rating within the closing 5 minutes of Recreation 5.
“It’s different. [When Jalen’s playing], you know he’s going to have that ball,” stated Mikal Bridges. “It doesn’t mean we can’t step up. I should’ve made shots and held it down for him as much as he holds it down for us. We just got to be better.”
Bridges and OG Anunoby made well timed threes to make it a 104-103 sport with seven seconds left on the clock, however with Brunson and Hart watching a pivotal stretch from the bench, their last-second flurry got here up simply quick.
Now the stress shifts again to Detroit, the place the Knicks should win Recreation 6 to keep away from going through a do-or-die Recreation 7 at The Backyard.
“You want to win every game. If I had my way, we would’ve swept them. If they had their way, they would’ve swept us,” Hart stated. “We’re not looking at it that way. Just got to make sure we focus on fixing the mistakes we had today and going to Detroit ready to go.”
Thibodeau took possession of the late-game miscalculation.
“Just coach’s decision,” he stated. “The challenge is to reset. Every game is different. Take a look at the film, see what we do better, be ready to go the next game.”
“It is tough. Regardless of how we feel tomorrow, we have to turn the page,” Brunson. “I think I said this before, if it’s a win or loss, it’s short-term memory because you have to come out and figure out what you have to do to win the next one.”
Initially Revealed: April 30, 2025 at 9:56 AM EDT
