The Detroit Pistons faced a tough lesson in playoff basketball during their recent game against the New York Knicks, where they led by eight points entering the fourth quarter. The Knicks executed a 21-0 run, exposing the vulnerabilities of the Pistonsâ youth and inexperience under pressure. Despite strong shooting from veterans like Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Pistons struggled to cope with the mounting pressure and defensive strategy targeting their star player, Cade Cunningham. The game encapsulated the unpredictable and unforgiving nature of postseason play, emphasizing that not all segments of a game carry equal weight.
Over a 21-0 fourth-quarter run that led to a 123-112 New York victory, the Knicks offered the Pistons a corrective for the first three quarters, a demonstration of postseason basketball's unpredictability, and a lesson that not all 48 minutes are created equal.
The Pistons have a dearth of ways to beat teams, and the Knicks were intent with shutting down their 26-ppg primary weapon, with OG Anunoby getting frequent help from Karl-Anthony Towns whenever Cunningham broke through on a screen.
Cunningham was generally content with passing out of pressure, because his mates were hitting their shots. Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Malik Beasley-the veterans on the team, probably not coincidentally-were 20-of-33 from the field after three quarters.
The quarter started badly for the Pistons, if you believe in omens: a five-second violation on the inbounds. On the next possession, a shot-clock violation. Two possessions later, Ausar Thompson missed a wide-open dunk.
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