DETROIT — Jalen Brunson made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left and finished with 40 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 116-113 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night and into the conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs.
“He’s at his best when his best is needed and he’s done it all year,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s what makes him special.”
In the 4th quarter, the Pistons went on a 20-2 run to take a seven-point lead with 2:35 left; at that point, the Knicks had a 7% chance to win, according to ESPN Analytics.
But New York ended the game on an 11-1 run.
Detroit didn’t get a shot off to potentially tie the game and send it to overtime because Malik Beasley fumbled a pass with four-tenths of a second left.
The third-seeded Knicks will next face second-seeded Boston, shooting to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000.
Mikal Bridges had 25 points and OG Anunoby added 22 for the Knicks, who closed the game out with clutch shots and stops after losing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and a 15-point advantage in the second quarter.
The sixth-seeded Pistons had an unprecedented turnaround during the regular season and ended the NBA’s longest playoff losing streak in their first postseason appearance since 2019, but broke another league mark with a 10th straight setback at home dating to 2008.
“We did so many things well and gave ourselves a chance,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They just made one more play than we did.”
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Cunningham was 0 for 8 on 3-pointers and his backcourt mate Tim Hardaway Jr. was 1-of-6 beyond the arc and scored seven points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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