Knicks know all about Pistons’ rise as Game 1 approaches

On their way to making the playoffs for the third straight season and the fourth time in five seasons, the New York Knicks had multiple up-close encounters with the massively improved Detroit Pistons.
More meetings are ahead in a first-round matchup between the teams starting Saturday when Jalen Brunson and the No. 3-seed Knicks host Cade Cunnigham and the No. 6 Pistons in the first postseason series between the teams since 1992.
The Knicks went 51-31 for their best regular season record since winning 54 games in 2012-13. New York also finished with 50 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
The hard reality, though, is that three of the Knicks’ losses this season were to the Pistons, who won just 14 games last season and are in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
“We’re ready to show the world — to show people on that stage what Detroit basketball is about: How we play, how we operate, and how we get it done,” Pistons center Isaiah Stewart said.
The Knicks are a three seed thanks to an offense that averaged 115.8 points, ninth best in the NBA, and scored at least 120 points 28 times. They received several clutch performances from Brunson before he missed 15 games with an ankle injury. He returned with five games remaining in the regular season.
“It doesn’t surprise you,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson. “I try not to take it for granted. I appreciate everything he brings to our team, and he plays to win. His competitive spirit is spectacular.”
Brunson averaged 26 points on 48.8 percent shooting and played four games after the injury. In the first round of the playoffs last year, Brunson averaged 35.5 points when the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers and 29.7 in a second-round series that ended with a Game 7 home loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Brunson was injured by the end of last spring’s postseason and the Knicks enter the series in good health after not being able to use Julius Randle last season. Randle missed the postseason with a shoulder injury and was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns.
After helping Minnesota reach the Western Conference finals in 2024, Towns averaged 24.4 points and shot 52.6 percent, including 42.0 percent from 3-point range this season. He also grabbed a career-best 12.8 rebounds and had 58 double-doubles.
Towns was added after the Knicks sent four unprotected first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges, who in 2023 was traded from the Phoenix Suns for Kevin Durant. Bridges averaged 17.6 points and shot 50.0 percent for the fourth time in his career.
Even with the new additions, the Pistons beat the Knicks three times in the four regular-season meetings. Brunson scored 36 points when the Knicks shot 51.5 percent and hit 18 3s in a 128-98 rout at Detroit way back on Nov. 1. The Pistons started the season by losing five of six in the early weeks of new coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s tenure.
The Pistons took off when Cunningham posted a triple-double of 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in a 120-111 win at New York on Dec. 7. That started a 12-4 hot streak that also featured Cunningham scoring 36 in a 124-119 win at New York on Jan. 13.
The Pistons really heated up after falling one game under .500 on Feb. 5, following a three-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Pistons then used an eight-game winning streak and ended the regular season by winning 19 of their final 31 games. Cunningham, the top overall pick in 2021 who averaged a career-high 26.1 points.
Cunningham also scored 36 points to beat New York on April 10 at Detroit and averaged 30.8 points in the four games against the Knicks.
“He’s done it against everybody,” Thibodeau said of Cunningham. “We know how good he is and we have to be ready for him.”
Detroit enters with a 14-game playoff losing streak that dates to May 26, 2009, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Boston Celtics.
“We’re not just happy to be here,” Bickerstaff said. “We’re going to go out and compete our tails off and see how far we can go.”
Along with former first-round pick Jalen Duren, Cunningham is flanked by veterans Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley, who have appeared in a combined 208 playoff games.