With 100 seconds left on a milestone night, Cade Cunningham had the ball, and the Pistons were feeling the comeback. They had pulled within three. The crowd was on its feet. Cade dribbled, spun and absolutely lost his defender, OG Anunoby, who hit the deck. Cade went up, destiny in his hands … but lost the ball in a bang against New York’s Karl Anthony Towns.
The rock came the other way, and Jalen Brunson, Cade’s parallel superstar in a Knicks uniform, drove between two Detroit defenders for a layup.
Destiny swings.
The Pistons would still claw, still fight, right to the end, but the game, and the win, remained just out of reach. On a night of some great three-point shooting and some terrible three-point shooting, of gutsy blocks and too many turnovers, of timely defense and endless energy and a second- quarter collapse and a fourth-quarter comeback, the Pistons, in their first home playoff game since the last time Donald Trump was president, fell just short of magic. Sometimes milestones go your way. Sometimes they land on your head.
New York, 118, Detroit 116.
Pistons trail 2-1 in the series.
Party, pooped.
A long wait
Now, remember, it had been six years since the Pistons played a playoff game in our city, but muscle memory doesn’t forget. The night began with a very Detroit soulful rendition of the national anthem by KEM, who grew up here. It continued with the familiar “Final Countdown” introductions and equally familiar explosions of fire. Fans yelled “DEE-TROIT BASKETBALL!” There was the thunderous “ahhs” on the arc of every Pistons’ early shot and the deafening boos whenever the opponent came up court. Jalen Rose and Chris Webber were shown in the crowd. Ben Wallace was in the house.
If you didn’t know better, it could have been the Palace of Auburn Hills, circa 2004.
But once the game started, it became clear: These Pistons are new, young, talented, gritty, emotional, inconsistent and a work in progress.
More veteran teams would know you have to grab the opponent by the throat in the first home playoff game of a series. But here in Game 3, the Pistons fell behind early, missing their first six shots and seeing a seventh shot blocked.
More veteran superstars know this is the moment you take things over. But Cade Cunningham, ripe with excellence, is still developing his dominance. Facing double-teams and tight defense, he was harassed into turnovers and wedged into passing more than scoring, relying on others to sink the ball.
More experienced playoff teams see golden opportunities and squeeze them tight. But in the closing moments, Jalen Duren swatted an easy jump ball out of bounds. And he threw a last chance opportunity away with an unreachable pass.
Meanwhile, the Knicks came out Thursday as if expecting to face Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer. And they never let up. They were physical, defensive, and aggressive, none more than Karl Anthony Towns, the longtime 7-foot brickhouse for Minnesota who now swings his considerable size around for the Knicks.
He swung it heavy Thursday night. After a fourth-quarter disappearance in Game 2, KAT seemed determined to register on the Richter scale in Game 3. I think I saw a few floorboards come loose on his drives.
Towns finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. He hit a huge jumper down the stretch to give the Knicks a seven-point lead and had that stop of the Cunningham spin play that could have turned the night.
From there it was all Brunson, who faced chants of “F—YOU BRUNSON” from start to finish. The dogged guard scored on consecutive layups that left multiple Detroit defenders watching him. He registered eight of his team’s last 10 points.
He did what superstars do. He took things over when they needed taking over.
The Pistons had plenty of great moments Thursday night.
But they didn’t have that.
The young guns
This isn’t to say there wasn’t a lot to like about the newest playoff team in town. Anthony Hardaway had eye-blinking success with this three point shooting early on, and Paul Reed had some gritty play off the bench and Cunningham filled the stat sheet with 24 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
But Tobias Harris didn’t hit a shot until the closing minutes and Malik Beasly killed numerous possessions with clanking 3-point attempts. If Cunningham is forced to pass, they must respond with great shooting. In game 3, they didn’t. The Pistons were sloppy with the ball when they couldn’t afford to be. Fourteen turnovers.
And while they still had a shot at winning right until the end, it never felt like a game they had earned.
However this series turns out, the only thing you can be sure of with these Pistons is that you can’t be sure of anything. They have the raw talent and toughness to win this series. They also make the mistakes that could lose it. At times they play like excited tourists on a Paris subway, enough energy to go all night, but needing a map to know where to stop and start.
But that’s what young teams do. This series could go six or seven easy.
For now, let’s say this. It was damn great to have playoff basketball back in this city. Honestly, it was surprising how natural and deafening the noise felt, as if this crowd had been frozen from the Chauncey-Rip-Ben days and defrosted just for this occasion. Little Caesars Arena is a terrific house for basketball, if, like so many NBA arenas, a bit overloaded with music over mood.
But Detroit, Detroit, as Paul Simon once sang, is still a basketball town. It felt it last night. And that’s a big win. Even if the scoreboard doesn’t agree.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Even with Pistons loss to Knicks, Detroit is a hoops town again
With 100 seconds left on a milestone night, Cade Cunningham had the ball, and the Pistons were feeling the comeback. They had pulled within three. The crowd was on its feet. Cade dribbled, spun and absolutely lost his defender, OG Anunoby, who hit the deck. Cade went up, destiny in his hands … but lost the ball in a bang against New York’s Karl Anthony Towns.
The rock came the other way, and Jalen Brunson, Cade’s parallel superstar in a Knicks uniform, drove between two Detroit defenders for a layup.
Destiny swings.
The Pistons would still claw, still fight, right to the end, but the game, and the win, remained just out of reach. On a night of some great three-point shooting and some terrible three-point shooting, of gutsy blocks and too many turnovers, of timely defense and endless energy and a second- quarter collapse and a fourth-quarter comeback, the Pistons, in their first home playoff game since the last time Donald Trump was president, fell just short of magic. Sometimes milestones go your way. Sometimes they land on your head.
New York, 118, Detroit 116.
Pistons trail 2-1 in the series.
Party, pooped.
A long wait
Now, remember, it had been six years since the Pistons played a playoff game in our city, but muscle memory doesn’t forget. The night began with a very Detroit soulful rendition of the national anthem by KEM, who grew up here. It continued with the familiar “Final Countdown” introductions and equally familiar explosions of fire. Fans yelled “DEE-TROIT BASKETBALL!” There was the thunderous “ahhs” on the arc of every Pistons’ early shot and the deafening boos whenever the opponent came up court. Jalen Rose and Chris Webber were shown in the crowd. Ben Wallace was in the house.
If you didn’t know better, it could have been the Palace of Auburn Hills, circa 2004.
But once the game started, it became clear: These Pistons are new, young, talented, gritty, emotional, inconsistent and a work in progress.
More veteran teams would know you have to grab the opponent by the throat in the first home playoff game of a series. But here in Game 3, the Pistons fell behind early, missing their first six shots and seeing a seventh shot blocked.
More veteran superstars know this is the moment you take things over. But Cade Cunningham, ripe with excellence, is still developing his dominance. Facing double-teams and tight defense, he was harassed into turnovers and wedged into passing more than scoring, relying on others to sink the ball.
More experienced playoff teams see golden opportunities and squeeze them tight. But in the closing moments, Jalen Duren swatted an easy jump ball out of bounds. And he threw a last chance opportunity away with an unreachable pass.
Meanwhile, the Knicks came out Thursday as if expecting to face Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer. And they never let up. They were physical, defensive, and aggressive, none more than Karl Anthony Towns, the longtime 7-foot brickhouse for Minnesota who now swings his considerable size around for the Knicks.
He swung it heavy Thursday night. After a fourth-quarter disappearance in Game 2, KAT seemed determined to register on the Richter scale in Game 3. I think I saw a few floorboards come loose on his drives.
Towns finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. He hit a huge jumper down the stretch to give the Knicks a seven-point lead and had that stop of the Cunningham spin play that could have turned the night.
From there it was all Brunson, who faced chants of “F—YOU BRUNSON” from start to finish. The dogged guard scored on consecutive layups that left multiple Detroit defenders watching him. He registered eight of his team’s last 10 points.
He did what superstars do. He took things over when they needed taking over.
The Pistons had plenty of great moments Thursday night.
But they didn’t have that.
The young guns
This isn’t to say there wasn’t a lot to like about the newest playoff team in town. Anthony Hardaway had eye-blinking success with this three point shooting early on, and Paul Reed had some gritty play off the bench and Cunningham filled the stat sheet with 24 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
But Tobias Harris didn’t hit a shot until the closing minutes and Malik Beasly killed numerous possessions with clanking 3-point attempts. If Cunningham is forced to pass, they must respond with great shooting. In game 3, they didn’t. The Pistons were sloppy with the ball when they couldn’t afford to be. Fourteen turnovers.
And while they still had a shot at winning right until the end, it never felt like a game they had earned.
However this series turns out, the only thing you can be sure of with these Pistons is that you can’t be sure of anything. They have the raw talent and toughness to win this series. They also make the mistakes that could lose it. At times they play like excited tourists on a Paris subway, enough energy to go all night, but needing a map to know where to stop and start.
But that’s what young teams do. This series could go six or seven easy.
For now, let’s say this. It was damn great to have playoff basketball back in this city. Honestly, it was surprising how natural and deafening the noise felt, as if this crowd had been frozen from the Chauncey-Rip-Ben days and defrosted just for this occasion. Little Caesars Arena is a terrific house for basketball, if, like so many NBA arenas, a bit overloaded with music over mood.
But Detroit, Detroit, as Paul Simon once sang, is still a basketball town. It felt it last night. And that’s a big win. Even if the scoreboard doesn’t agree.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Even with Pistons loss to Knicks, Detroit is a hoops town again
