Pistons vs Knicks final result: Pistons lose embarrassingly in blowout to Knicks

On By Littum

It was bad – everything was bad. For the Detroit Pistons and for Pistons fans. It was the kind of game that had people saying “goodnight” to each other in the game thread after the first quarter.

The Pistons were down by 26 (!) points after the first 12 minutes of the game. They actually got a puppy point in the second, but were still down 69-46 at halftime. The turnover woes continued with 11 — and worse, it wasn’t Cade. It’s never a good thing when your low usage players are the ones constantly turning the ball over. There was not much defense to be found on the perimeter as Knicks went 9-for-17 from deep. Detroit’s 46 points in the first half was a season low.

The Knicks started the first possession of the second half with a KAT isolation against Duren that resulted in an easy layup and Isaiah Stewart was subbed immediately. Duren struggled on both ends of the court tonight – even Paul Reed got some minutes (and played well!). JD’s defense continues to be a rollercoaster of an experience, and for those keeping track, there are far more downs than there have been ups.

The Pistons ended up losing 128-98 – time to forget that game and get ready for Sunday’s afternoon matinee with Brooklyn Nets. They will have to show up on time for that match.

The Pistons were led by Cade Cunningham with 22 points. Simone Fontecchio had 12 on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting in garbage time (because the whole game was garbage time), and Tobias Harris had 13 and eight rebounds.

The Knicks were led by Jalen Brunson, who scored an extremely effortless 36 points. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby each added 21 points.

I’ll at least give JB Bickerstaff a shout out for his decisions tonight. He wasn’t afraid to try different looks or take a look at new lineups. There was a nice stretch the Pistons had with Tobias at the five – they used a 5-out look on offense that resulted in an easy layup over Brunson for Cade because the help was too far away. Moments like this make me hope he’s more willing to try things like this in the future.

He was also not afraid to replace players when he was not satisfied with their efforts in defense. He was active on the sideline with his team down to 30 and I can at least appreciate that we have a real head coach leading these guys.