Pacome Dadiet leads the way, but Knicks blown out by Pistons in Summer League opener

The Knicks got shellacked in their 2025 Las Vegas Summer League debut, falling 104-86 to the Detroit Pistons.

It was a forgettable offensive performance from the franchise’s prospects that left little to write home about. 

Here are some takeaways…

– New York's 2024 first-round pick Pacome Dadiet led the way with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, making hay attacking closeouts and leaking out in transition. Marjon Beauchamp scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from two and 0-for-4 shooting from three. Kevin McCullar Jr. finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists on 5-of-14 shooting, while getting a large portion of the backcourt creation reps. 

– Tyler Kolek had 10 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five turnovers on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. New York went pretty deep into their bench, with 2025 second-round pick Mohamed Diawara highlighted, playing 17 minutes and finishing with seven points and seven rebounds.

– Ron Holland II led Detroit with 28 points and 11 rebounds — he wreaked havoc defensively early and turned it up from deep later in the contest. Daniss Jenkins added 18 points on three threes while Tolu Smith finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

– The Pistons got off to a quick 16-4 start, making five of their first six field goals thanks to some sloppy Knicks turnovers. Holland made an early impact with seven points and two steals in the opening period.

McCullar Jr. made some nice plays to get the offense going after earlier miscues, long tossing off a steal to get Kolek an easy lay-up and driving hard for a reverse layup. The highlight of the quarter for New York was Diawara’s bullet to Luka Scuka inside for a bucket, though they ultimately trailed 21-15 going into the second. 

– Detroit opened the period on another run to go back up double digits behind another stalled Knicks offense. Dadiet got into the action with a three and emphatic revenge block early in the quarter.

Former Knick draft pick Trevor Keels hit a three to help the Pistons to a 6-of-14 three-point shooting half compared to a meek 1-of-9 outing from the Knicks. The team had 12 turnovers and shot 35.1 percent from the field in the opening half en route to a 46-32 halftime deficit.

– The Knicks found their groove to open the second half, going on a 9-3 run out of the gates behind a Dadiet walk-in middie and driving dunk in transition. Detroit quickly responded at the hands of Holland, showing off his newly restructured jumper with a couple threes including a tough one off the dribble in the corner.

New York missed another eight consecutive threes and fell behind by as much as 21, ultimately going into the final frame down 74-56 thanks to a full-court buzzer beating heave from Diawara. 

– The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Pistons built on their lead behind threes and stifling defense. Dadiet was able to sneak a few more transition buckets in before New York was eventually put away. 

What's next

The Knicks return to action on Sunday as they face-off with the Celtics' Summer League squad at 5:30 p.m.

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