The New York Knicks have defeated Dennis Schröder and the Detroit Pistons for the fourth time. In a dramatic finish, Jalen Brunson once again made the decisive play.
The pendulum swung back and forth between the two teams throughout the game. Shortly before the end, the Pistons had equalized the visitors’ high lead. However, the final minutes once again belonged to Knicks playmaker Jalen Brunson (40 points, 7 assists). Detroit squandered its last chance in dramatic fashion.
The Pistons’ victory in New York two days ago made the series, which had seemed all but decided at 3-1, exciting again. With a home game ahead, everything pointed to a thrilling finale in this highly dramatic series. And that’s exactly what happened.
However, it was the Knicks who got off to the much better start in the sixth game of the first-round series. Star player Jalen Brunson came out of the locker room on fire, hitting seven of his first nine shots in the first quarter alone to give the Knickerbockers their first double-digit lead (37-23).
Detroit’s response was not long in coming, however. As so often in this series, it was the home team’s bench that turned the tide. Malik Beasley hit five three-pointers in ten minutes. New York, meanwhile, had major problems from the three-point line in the first half (5/18). Consequently, Detroit went into the break with a narrow lead (61:58).
New York came out of the locker room stronger twice
After the break, however, the visitors came out of the locker room with more energy once again. The Knicks’ starters outscored the Pistons’ starters by almost 13 points in this quarter. This time, it was the latter whose three-point attempts all failed to find the ring (0/7). The score was 85:96 going into the final twelve minutes.
Once again, the Knicks were leading by double digits. But that wasn’t to be the last twist in what was once again a dramatic game. Led by Cunningham (23/7/8) and Schröder (9 points, 9 assists), who took control of the game as playmaker during this phase, Detroit went on a 12-0 run (105-103). With two and a half minutes remaining, Tim Hardaway Jr. even put his team five points ahead (112:105). But the last word went to the outstanding Jalen Brunson, who scored six points before the end – including a three-pointer five seconds before the end to regain the lead (103:106). In the final play, the Pistons even had another chance to equalize. However, Beasley (20, 6/13), who was unmarked, was unable to control the pass.
The New York Knicks thus won their third away game in Detroit and advanced to the Eastern Conference semi-finals. On Tuesday night (May 6), they will face defending champions Boston Celtics.
