Jalen Brunson overcame a slow start to score 34 points as the New York Knicks dominated the fourth quarter in a 123-112 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Saturday.
Game 2 will be Monday in New York before the series shifts to Detroit on Thursday.
The Knicks overcame an eight-point deficit by outscoring the Pistons 33-14 over the final 9:16. New York seized control with a massive 21-0 run that spanned nearly 4 1/2 minutes and gave the Knicks a 111-98 lead.
“You got to win games (in) different ways,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Obviously you prefer not to be down eight points but that’s what the situation was and then just find a way to win.”
Brunson scored eight points in the burst — all in the paint — and gave the Knicks the lead for good when his difficult 2-footer over Tim Hardaway Jr. with 7:16 left snapped a 98-98 tie.
Brunson started 2-for-13 but hit his final two shots of the first half and finished 12 of 27 for the game. He also appeared to tweak his ankle twice in the final few minutes of the third quarter and eventually made a a brief trip to the locker room. He helped the Knicks outscore Detroit 40-21 in the fourth.
“I think he grabbed his cape,” Thibodeau said of Brunson.
Added forward OG Anunoby: “Jalen’s a great player. So I’m not surprised by it all. That’s what he does.”
Anunoby added 19 of his 23 points in the first half and Karl Anthony-Towns contributed 13 of his 23 in the second half to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists overall. Reserve Cameron Payne added 14 points, including the tying 3-pointer in New York’s extended run.
Josh Hart overcame foul trouble before halftime and contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists overall for New York, which shot 70.8 percent in the fourth quarter and 52.7 percent overall.
Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 25 points, but Detroit dropped its 15th straight postseason game dating to Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals.
Cade Cunningham collected 21 points and 12 assists, but also committed six of Detroit’s 21 turnovers in his postseason debut after helping the Pistons win three of the four regular-season meetings with New York.
“The turnovers led to easy baskets for them,” Harris said. “You can look at the last three, four minutes, too many fastbreak layups. When certain guys got in there and got hot from 3, that hurt us.”
Malik Beasley finished with 20 and Hardaway contributed 19 as the Pistons shot 31.8 percent (7-of-22) in the fourth and 47.7 percent overall.
Harris hit a 3-pointer right before halftime to get the Pistons within 57-55 at the break, and then Detroit dominated the final 5:49 of the third. A basket by Towns forged a 72-72 tie, but the Pistons ended the quarter with a 19-11 run and took a 91-83 lead into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
