Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton get standing ovations from Pistons fans
Ben Wallace and Rip Hamilton get standing ovations from Pistons fans during Game 3 of NBA playoff series against NY Knicks, April 24, 2025 at LCA.
The Detroit Pistons lost to the New York Knicks, 94-93, in Game 4 of their first-round NBA playoff series.
The Detroit Pistons suffered another heartbreaking loss, thanks to the New York Knicks on April 27 at Little Caesars Arena.
After eliminating a 16-point deficit late in the second quarter, the Pistons seized an11-point lead, 79-68, with 8:35 remaining in the game. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns took over from there, though, combining for 23 points in the final period and lead the Knicks to a stunning 94-93 win in Game 4, taking a 3-1 series lead.
Game 5 is April 29 in New York (7:30 p.m. TNT/FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).
The Pistons have lost nine straight home playoff games, tying the NBA record set by Philadelphia (1968-71). Detroit’s last home playoff win came in Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals vs. Boston at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons are 0-4 in the playoffs at LCA.
Brunson scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth, and Towns hit the winning shots — a 3-pointer with 1:29 remaining to cut the Pistons lead to two, 93-91, and another with 47 seconds left.
On the final possession with 11 seconds left, Cunningham missed a midrange jumper and Tim Hardaway Jr.’s contested 3-pointer at the buzzer grazed the rim. The crowd was booing for more than a minute after the buzzer sounded wanting a foul call, as coach J.B. Bickerstaff and players argued the non-call.
Hardaway was blunt after the game about whether he was fouled, telling reporters (in the only question he took): “You all saw it. It was blatant.”
Referee crew chief David Guthrie told pool reporter Coty Davis of the Detroit News that a foul should’ve been called on Hardaway’s 3-point attempt.
“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play,” Guthrie said. “After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called.”
Cunningham turned the ball over the previous possession on a drive to the hoop.
Cunningham had a dominant performance with a triple-double — 25 points (11-for-23 shooting), 10 rebounds, 10 assists − and four blocks. Tobias Harris added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Towns finished with 27 points for the Knicks, who were held to 37.4% shooting against a physical Pistons defense. but NYK was 15-for-33 on 3-pointers.
The Pistons trimmed their 16-point deficit to seven by halftime, overcoming a cold start. They missed their first 10 3-point attempts, but outscored the Knicks, 42-16, during a dominant stretch in the second and third periods.
The Pistons finally erased the deficit midway through the third quarter and took a 71-64 edge into the fourth after the cold-shooting Malik Beasley canned two 3-pointers. They led 79-68 at 8:35 of the fourth before the Knicks rallied.
Cade Cunningham can’t finish for win
An 11-2 run to end the second half sparked the Pistons leading into their third-quarter takeover. It was Harris and Hardaway who initially got things rolling, with the former completing a 3-point play and latter knocking down a 3-pointer after the Pistons faced their biggest deficit of the day, 48-32, with 2:15 remaining until halftime.
They dominated both ends of the floor in the third period, with Cunningham leading the way. The breakout star tallied 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the quarter, which the Pistons won, 28-14.
Cunningham opened the period with a midrange jumper before a series of standout defensive plays. He rejected a layup attempt from Mikal Bridges, drew a charge on Towns, chased down Brunson in transition to swat his layup attempt and pinned another layup attempt from Brunson, leading to a layup on the other end by Harris to extend the run to 19-4.
Midway through the third, Cunningham got inside for a layup to push the run to 23-4 and get the Pistons the lead, 55-52. He also had a pair of highlight dunks, one — a left-hander over Towns — being one of the biggest highlights of the night.
Early in the fourth, a basket and a split trip at the line by Cunningham extended the Pistons’ push to 42-16 since the 2:15 mark of the second period.
Cunningham turned the ball over on the Pistons’ second-to-last possession on a drive, then missed a pull-up jump shot near the foul line with about 7 seconds left that would have given the Pistons the lead.
Pistons drag Knicks into mud
The Knicks punched first, leading the Pistons 29-19 after the first quarter by holding them to 7-for-19 (38.9%) shooting. Their offense struggled out of the gate, committing six turnovers in the opening period, and eight before the midway point of the second.
Before they got their offense moving late in the period, they clamped down defensively. The Knicks shot just 5-for-23 in the second, struggling against a physical Pistons defense that slowed the pace of the game down to a crawl. It continued in the third — the Pistons held them to 5-for-21 shooting while outscoring them by 14 points. They shot 10-44 combined — 22.7% — in the second and third periods.
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Next up: Knicks
Matchup: Pistons (1-3) at New York (3-1) Eastern Conference first round, Game 5.
Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. April 29; Madison Square Garden, New York.
TV/radio: TNT, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit; WWJ-AM (950).
The rest of the series
Game 6*: In Detroit, TBA May 1.
Game 7*: In New York, TBA May 3.
*If necessary