Jalen Brunson lifts Knicks into second round with 3-point dagger against Pistons
DETROIT — Warts and injuries, inconsistency and defensive shortcomings, it doesn’t matter at the moment. The Knicks are moving on. Despite blowing a 15-point second-quarter lead, despite choking away an 11-point, fourth-quarter edge, the Knicks found a way in crunch time to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the third consecutive season. Jalen Brunson’s dagger of a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left sent Tom Thibodeau’s team to a wild 116-113 series-clinching victory over the Pistons on Thursday at a stunned Little Caesars Arena.Brunson’s crossover at the top of the key left dogged Pistons defender Ausar Thompson sliding several feet to his left and he calmly sank the 3-pointer that capped an 11-1 run over the final 2:23.
The Pistons turned it over at the other end of the floor with a chance to tie. The Knicks-Celtics series will start Monday night in Boston. It was a stunning fourth quarter, one in which the Pistons turned a 11-point deficit into a seven-point edge.Brunson willed the Knicks back with five straight points.
Mikal Bridges pulled them even with a tip-in with 35.8 seconds to go, and after a stop, Brunson sent the Pistons into the offseason. On a bum right ankle, Brunson finished with 40 points and seven assists, Bridges added 25 points and OG Anunboy had 22.Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 23 points and eight assists. The first quarter was arguably the Knicks’ best of the series.
The second was one of their worst.The Knicks led by 14 after one, but trailed by two at the break after getting gashed for 38 points in a defenseless second quarter. Malik Beasley hit five 3-pointers in the period, including one to beat the buzzer from just in front of the Detroit bench.
In the quarter, the Pistons made 14 of 23 shots and turned a 15-point deficit into a lead.The Knicks grew stagnant offensively, relying too heavily on isolation ball, and they paid for it.
Five turnovers in the quarter hurt, and the Pistons woke up the la...