DETROIT — On second thought, maybe they should have hung up the NBA Cup banner.
Hours after MSG chairman James Dolan talked confidently about winning an NBA championship this season, the Knicks put on a performance that appeared far from that goal as they fell to the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, 121-90, at Little Caesars Arena.
It was the first meeting against Detroit since the Knicks knocked them out in the opening round of the playoffs last season in a contentious battle through six games. The Pistons came with the same fire for this test and the Knicks showed little desire to match the physicality and intensity.
Jalen Brunson did his part, fighting through the physical defense and amid the profane chants directed at him — a reminder of when he quieted the crowd in the playoffs — for 25 points. But most of the Knicks roster seemed frustrated and lost against the Pistons’ athletic defenders. Karl-Anthony Towns had just six points, connecting on 1 of 4 field goal attempts. OG Anunoby was 1-for-3 for five points, and struggled to slow Cade Cunningham as Detroit’s MVP candidate poured in 29 points and handed out 13 assists.
The loss was the fourth straight — their longest skid since the 2023-24 season — and , combined with a win by Boston, dropped the Knicks to third place in the East as they fell to 23-13. The Knicks could point to the absence of Josh Hart, who sat out his sixth straight game. But the Pistons (27-9) were without two starters — Jalen Duran and Tobias Harris — and still dominated this game almost from the start.
“I mean, with this group, you don’t have to get them hyped,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “It’s true, they’re motivated. There are matchups they’re looking for, there are things that make them tick.”
By halftime the lead was up to 10 with the Knicks turning the ball over nine times in the second period alone. After three quarters the deficit was 20 and when it reached 28 in the fourth quarter Mike Brown emptied the bench midway through the fourth quarter — and it kept getting worse.
The Knicks were held to a season-low 90 points — after setting a prior low just three days earlier against Atlanta with 99.
“JB has this team believing, not just in the process, but in each other,” Brown said. “You can feel it. They have an identity that they hang their hat on every single night. That’s the physicality that they bring to the table. Their ability to rebound. Their ability to guard. Those things are second to none when it comes to looking at this team.”
The Knicks, who were just frustrated all night, had no claim to an identity for themselves in this test for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.