Less than a half, that’s the time it took the Knicks to bend the game on the Pistons’ floor tonight to clinch their tenth victory of the season, already the third against Detroit.
In line with his previous outings, Julius Randle set the tone with four 3-point baskets in the first four minutes (10-16). He then turned into a passer for Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes to allow his team to keep the lead despite the good passage of Killian Hayes, author of five points and an alley-oop for Marvin Bagley III.
A + 8 after 12 minutes and with 40 points on the clock (32-40), the New Yorkers first turned their backs when Detroit regained the advantage thanks to the Joseph-Duren-Bey trio (45-44) . Then it was another trio, this time made up of Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, who changed the game for good, with a 19-5 during which danger came from all sides (53-68 ).
At -14 at the break (56-70), the locals were not at the end of their troubles, because New York kept up the pressure on the return from the locker room, with the three friends still at the wand to pass the gap at +20 after four minutes of play (61-82).
It was then the beginning of a long and insignificant “garbage time” which will have had the merit of highlighting the talent of New York “role-players” like Immanuel Quickley or Isaiah Hartenstein and all the shortcomings that remained fill on the side of Detroit to be more respected, pending the return of Cade Cunningham (77-108).
For the honor, the Pistons still managed to win the last act, 33 to 32. A very small consolation in view of the final score (110-140) and the sad performance achieved by the troops of Dwane Casey.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– A non-match. It looked like there were several divisions between the two teams, a sentiment confirmed by the main statistical categories confirming the Knicks’ dominance in this game. The impression that we could have played until the end of the night without the dynamics changing. On arrival, the Knicks perfectly managed the context to make an easy match. On the other side, the Pistons, dead last in the Eastern Conference, have reason to be worried…
– A story of series. Each his time to dominate the other! By the late ’80s, the Pistons had managed a 12-game winning streak over the Knicks. Today, it’s up to New Yorkers to strut ahead of Detroit with an 11th straight win, already the third for this season. Next and last meeting between the two teams this season on January 14, still in Detroit.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Julius Randle. The interior celebrated its 28th anniversary in style. Author of a cannon start, he released his best performance of the season almost without forcing and finished with 36 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
✅ Jalen Brunson. Mr efficiency since it only took him 18 minutes to plant 16 points at 6/8 shooting and distribute 5 assists. He was one of Julius Randle’s main lieutenants, along with Quentin Grimes and RJ Barrett to widen the gap and kill the game as soon as they returned from the locker room.
✅⛔️Killian Hayes. The Frenchman is better since Dwane Casey’s pressure move, and there were still good things to take away from this match, such as his 6 assists or the fact that he didn’t lose any balls. But the whole remains insufficient for a titular leader (pending the return of Cade Cunningham) of an NBA team.
⛔️Saddiq Bey. The Pistons’ Iron Man is the disappointment of this start to the season. Is it the arrival of Bojan Bogdanovic which restricts him or the departure of Jerami Grant which generates less space for him? Still, he missed it again last night at 4/11 in shooting, including a sad 0/5 from 3-pointers.
THE FOLLOWING
Detroit (5-18): The Pistons host Dallas tomorrow night (1:00 a.m.).
New York (10-11): the Knicks continue this evening with the reception of Milwaukee (01:30).