NBA Playoff Picks 5/1 – Knicks @ Pistons

By thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs continue tonight with the No. 3 seed New York Knicks (51-31 in the Eastern Conference) visiting the No. 6 seed Detroit Pistons (44-38 in the Eastern Conference) at Little Caesar’s Arena on TNT. New York leads the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can advance to face the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics with a victory tonight. 

Detroit staved off elimination after a scrappy 106-103 win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. The road team has won four of the first five games of this series. If Detroit wins, they’ll force a Game Seven that will be played on Saturday in New York. Whether they win or lose tonight, Detroit has made tremendous strides this season as they went from 14-68 last year to 44-38 this year — the fifth-best single-season win improvement in NBA history — and delivered a strong showing in the postseason against New York. Detroit is a 2-point favorite and the total is 212.5.

This is the fourth postseason meeting between New York and Detroit. New York holds a 2-1 lead. The Knicks won a first-round, best-of-five series 3-2 in 1984. Hall of Famer Bernard King averaged 42.6 points per game in that series. He set an NBA record for points in a five-game series. King registered 44 points in the Knicks Game Five win at Detroit. 

The Pistons dispatched of the Knicks 4-1 in the 1990 Eastern Conference semis en route to winning their second straight NBA title. Two years later, New York outlasted Detroit 3-2 in the first round of a highly-intense and physical series— similar to the current matchup now in 2025. That series would mark the end of the “Bad Boy Pistons” run of excellence and birth New York’s Pistons-like physicality that resulted in deep playoff runs. 

SERIES RECAP: GAME ONE

Despite coming into the series with a lot less playoff experience and seven fewer wins, the Detroit Pistons went 3-1 against New York during the regular season, winning both games in New York. Detroit’s success against New York throughout the regular season has almost mirrored their results in this first-round series, as they’ve won two of three games at New York, while four of the five games have come down to the final seconds. 

Game One saw a nip and tuck first half where New York emerged with a 57-55 lead. Detroit took control of the game after halftime by outscoring New York 36-26. The Pistons led 91-83 with 9:16 remaining in the game. New York then went on a 21-0 run over the next 4:41 to take a 111-98 lead and never looked back. New York went on to win 123-112. Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson — the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year — scored a game-high 34 points (12-27 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 8-10 FT) and dished out eight assists over 40 minutes in the win. 

GAME TWO RECAP

Detroit evened the series after holding on for a 100-94 win in Game Two. The victory ended a 15-game postseason losing streak for the Pistons. Their last postseason win occurred in Game Four of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals against Boston. Since that win in 2008, Detroit was swept in 2009, 2016 and 2019, and dropped Game One against the Knicks. The 15 straight playoff losses set an NBA record.

Just as in Game One, the Pistons used a strong third quarter to build a double-digit lead (68-53). They were able to maintain that lead through the fourth quarter and led 90-78 with 6:12 remaining. New York rallied with a 16-4 run and tied the game at 94 with 1:15 left in the game. Pistons reserve guard Dennis Schroder knocked down a three-pointer with 55.1 seconds left that gave Detroit a 97-94 lead and proved to be the winning basket. Jalen Brunson missed two three-pointers in the final 8 seconds, which allowed Detroit to prevail. 

Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham amassed 33 points (11-21 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 10-12 FT), 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Game Two win. Dennis Schroder added 20 points (6-10 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 5-6 FT) and three assists off the bench, in addition to hitting the game-winning shot. Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 37 points (12-27 FG, 4-12 3Pt, 9-11 FT) for the Knicks in the loss. 

GAME THREE RECAP

The series moved to Detroit for Games Three and Four with the Knicks picking up a pair of nail-biting wins to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Game Three saw New York jump out to an early lead, instead of falling behind which they had done in Games One and Two. They held on for a 118-116 win. The Knicks led 66-53 at the half, and maintained a double-digit lead through the midway point of the fourth quarter. 

Detroit was able to pull within three on several occasions over the final five minutes in regulation, but their comeback efforts were thwarted by clutch baskets and free throws from Karl-Anthony Towns (31 points) and Jalen Brunson (30 points).

GAME FOUR RECAP

Game Four followed the same theme as Game Three with the Knicks jumping out to an early lead and needing to hang on for a narrow win. New York led 29-19 after the first quarter, and increased the lead to 16 (48-32) late in the first half. Detroit pulled within 50-43 at halftime, and then outscored New York 28-14 in the third quarter to take a 71-64 lead. Detroit increased the lead to 79-68 with 8:35 remaining in the game. 

For a third time in four games, the Knicks found themselves in the familiar role of needing a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Pistons. And for a third time, the Knicks rallied and won the game. Just as in Game Three, the Knicks rode the clutch shooting of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns to pick up a 94-93 win. Trailing 93-89 with 1:29 left, Towns nailed a tough turnaround jumper to pull the Knicks within 93-91. After a Pistons missed shot, Towns buried a deep three-pointer to give the Knicks a 94-93 lead with 47 seconds left in the game. 

The Knicks won the game in controversial fashion after a no-call on Tim Hardaway Jr. missed three-pointer at the buzzer. He appeared to be fouled by Josh Hart on the shot attempt, but the refs did not call the foul. The NBA admitted the refs missed the call on Hardaway’s shot attempt. Had the foul been called, Hardaway would have gone to the line for three free throws to win the game. The All-Star duo of Jalen Brunson (32 points) and Karl-Anthony Towns (27 points) carried New York offensively for a second straight game. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 25 points.

GAME FIVE RECAP

After two straight losses at home — including a demoralizing defeat in Game Four — and going down 3-1 in the series, many wondered how the inexperienced Pistons would fare when they returned to raucous Madison Square Garden for Game Five. The Pistons showed their resiliency and defeated the Knicks 106-103 in Game Five to keep their season alive. Detroit has won two of three games at New York in this series, and are 4-1 overall this season at Madison Square Garden. 

Detroit’s knack of coming out strong after halftime continued in Game 5 as they trailed 50-49 at the half, and then built a 71-61 lead with 4:12 left in the third quarter. The Knicks pulled within 77-74 by the end of the quarter. The game remained close throughout the final frame, and was tied at 95 with a little over three minutes left in regulation. But it was the youthful Pistons trio of Cade Cunningham (23), Jalen Duran (21) and Ausar Thompson (22) who hit clutch shots and free throws in the final three minutes to win it for Detroit, not the Knicks playoff-tested veterans.

Cade Cunningham led Detroit with a team-high 24 points (6-17 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 11-12 FT), along with eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block across 37 minutes. Ausar Thompson posted 22 points (8-10 FG, 0-1 3PT, 6-12 FT), seven rebounds and two blocks over 29 minutes. Thompson had been held to 10 points or fewer in each of the first four games of the series. OG Anunoby led New York with 19 points (8-13 FG, 3-4 3PT), along with eight rebounds and three blocks over 39 minutes. Jalen Brunson was held to a series-low 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting. He’d been averaging 33.3 points per game over the first four games. 

THE PICK: KNICKS (+2)

The Knicks won both games in Detroit, and I think they’ll scrap their way to another win in Detroit tonight. I also expect Jalen Brunson will deliver a spectacular performance here in Game 6, after a substandard effort in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. Brunson has shown himself to be a big-time playoff performer in his three seasons with the Knicks, so two bad games in a row is highly unlikely. Take the Points and the Knicks tonight!