The New York Knicks escaped Detroit with a wild one-point win on Sunday afternoon, which pushed them to a 3-1 lead in their opening-round playoff series with the Pistons.
The win, though, only came after a very controversial no-call in the final seconds that sent Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff storming after the officials on the court at Little Caesars Arena while the Knicks players celebrated around them.
The Pistons had the ball down by a single point with 11.1 seconds left on the clock, and were looking for a game-winner. Pistons star Cade Cunningham took a shot from the left elbow, but was just off the mark. After a scramble for the ball under the rim, the Pistons kicked it out to Tim Hardaway Jr. in the corner — who had just enough time to put up a shot before the buzzer sounded.
But, as Hardaway faked first, he drew a lot of contact from Knicks guard Josh Hart as he went up for the shot. Hardaway was actually knocked into a row of photographers on the baseline, and his shot missed the rim entirely. But the official, who was standing right next to Hardaway and Hart, didn’t call a foul.
So the Knicks then escaped with the 94-93 win. Bickerstaff charged out onto the floor irate to scream at the officials for not calling a foul there, but they simply ignored him and walked off of the court. Knicks players simply celebrated around them.
Jalen Brunson, who left the game briefly in the second half with what looked like a bad leg injury, led the Knicks with 32 points and 11 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns added 27 points and nine rebounds, and Hart finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Though they got the win, the Pistons out-rebounded the Knicks by 16 and out-scored them in the paint by 16 points.
Cunningham had 25 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in the loss for Detroit. He’s now just the second player in franchise history to have a playoff triple-double. Tobias Harris added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Hardaway had 14 points. He went just 4-of-13 from behind the arc, too.
The Knicks now hold a 3-1 lead in the series. They’ll have a chance to close out the Pistons in Game 5 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
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