The New York Knicks look for their fifth win in a row on Saturday night as the visiting Detroit Pistons make the trip to Madison Square Garden for the first time this season.
The Knicks have won their last three games by an average of 24 points after starting their streak with a 99-98 win against the host Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 29. New York defeated New Orleans 118-85, then slowed the scorching-hot Magic with a decisive 121-106 victory on Tuesday, ending Orlando’s six-game winning streak. The Magic had also won 12 of 13 entering that game.
New York kept things going with a 125-101 win against Charlotte on Thursday, led by 27 points from Karl-Anthony Towns, 25 from OG Anunoby and 24 from Jalen Brunson. In total, the Knicks have won nine of their last 11 games and have put their 3-4 start to the season behind them.
The Pistons and Knicks met earlier this season in Detroit on Nov. 1, a 128-98 New York win. Brunson led the Knicks with 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting and made six of his eight 3-point attempts.
Anunoby and Towns scored 21 points each, while Mikal Bridges added 15 and Josh Hart 13. The Knicks took a 39-13 advantage into the second quarter and kept the game out of reach for the remainder.
Acquired in a blockbuster trade on Oct. 2 from the Minnesota Timberwolves, the 7-foot Towns arguably has been the Knicks’ best player so far this season. The four-time All-Star is averaging team highs of 25.2 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. Brunson also is playing at an All-Star level once again as he trails just behind Towns at 25.1 points while also handing out a team-best 7.5 assists per game.
“(Towns) has always been a really good rebounder,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s always had great instincts. He’s long and he’s much stronger now than when I had him in Minnesota. He’s got great hands, too. If the ball’s near him, he’s getting it. He’s going after everything, so he’s playing at a very, very high level, but he can do more.”
The Pistons fell to 1-5 after that loss to the Knicks on Nov. 1, but they won six of their next nine games to get themselves one game under .500 by Nov. 17. Since then, however, the Pistons have won just twice in nine games and now sit at 9-15 and firmly out of Eastern Conference relevance.
Detroit has lost their last three games by double digits, including a 21-point loss at home to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
The Pistons enter Saturday’s game coming off a hard-fought 130-120 loss to the Celtics on Wednesday in Boston. The Pistons actually outscored Boston after the first quarter, but the 15-point hole they put themselves in was too much to overcome.
“If you look at the scores from the second through the fourth quarter, it was a different basketball game,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You just can’t put yourself in position to be down by 19 points to this team and expect to be able to claw your way back, turning the ball over and giving up offensive rebounds.”
Pistons standout Cade Cunningham predictably has been the team’s top performer this season. He’s averaging team highs of 23.6 points and 9.1 assists in addition to grabbing 7.2 rebounds per game. He trails only Jalen Duren’s 9.2 rebounds per game for the team high in that category as well.
Jaden Ivey averages 17.7 points for the Pistons while also averaging just over four assists and four rebounds per game. Malik Beasley also has begun to emerge, averaging 15.7 points despite starting only seven of the Pistons’ 24 games so far.
