Brunson & Knicks Get “Whammy’ed” Detroit 106 NY 103

April 30, 2025 LouV 2024-25 0
Brunson finally rattles in a 3.

You knew it was going to happen.

The Award and all the talk of Jalen Brunson being the clutchest player in the NBA.

And who came up with the bright idea of giving NBA awards out during the playoffs?

It created a whammy. Jalen Brunson and the Knicks got whammy’ed.

Brunson shot 4-16 from the floor in the 5th and possibly clinching game at Madison Square Garden — and tweeked his previously badly sprained ankle with 3 minutes left so wasn’t even on the court from the 3-minutes-left mark to the 37-seconds-left mark — helplessly standing with Josh Hart on the sidelines as play continued and coach Tom Thibodeau did not want to waste his final timeout.

Instead Cade Cunningham was Mr. Clutch — turning a 95-95 tie with 3:25 left into a 101-95 Detroit lead with 1:57 left by feeding Jalen Duren inside for a dunk, missing a drive that Duren turned into a dunk off an offensive rebound, and hitting a floater. When the Knicks pulled back within 4 on a Mikal Bridges jumper, Cunningham fed Ausar Thompson for a dunk and 6-pt Detroit lead with 27 seconds left.

The Knicks heroically hit two 3’s in the final 27 seconds — one by OG Anunoby and one by Bridges — but Detroit hit their free throws to come away with the win.

“We have to figure out how to come out of halftime better,” said Josh Hart afterwards. “This is the 3rd game in a row — I’m blinking on game 2 — but we go into halftime with a lead and then we go into the 4th quarter down. So we have to figure that out. We have to come out of halftime more aggressive.”

The Knicks lead in the best-of-7 series is cut to 3-2, as the teams head back to Detroit for Game 6.

1. Closely Called Game from the Start; Lotsa Foul Trouble

After the non-call of a foul on a Tim Hardaway Jr’s 3 attempt at the end of Game 4 — wherein many pointed out the refs let things go all night why call a foul on that particular jumper — in this game the refs did a 180 and called a tight game from the start.

This resulted in a lot of players getting into early foul trouble. All the Knick starters had 3 or 4 fouls at the half.

Karl-Anthony Towns, especially, got a couple of quick calls on him in the 1st quarter, which required Mitchell Robinson to come in with 6:17 left in the 1st. Robinson would end up playing 23 minutes, and end up being the star of the night for NY — scoring 13 pts on 5-8 shooting (3-7 in free throws) with 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals despite picking up 5 fouls himself.

2. Knicks Shot Poorly, Still Up by 1 at After 1

The Knicks — especially Jalen Brunson — did not shoot well from the start. In fact Brunson didn’t even have a bucket until late in the 2nd quarter.

Still — the Knicks held a 1-pt lead after 1 quarter, 23-22.

3. OG & Mitch Robinson Star for Knicks; NY Up 1 at the Half

Cameron Payne gave the Knicks a lift early in the 2nd, with a 3 and good defense.

And then OG Anunoby took over on offense and Mitchell Robinson started dominating on the offensive and defensive boards, and scoring inside off alley oop dunks.

It was the best big Mitch has looked all season, after coming back from ankle surgery.

Karl-Anthony Towns joined him midway thru the 2nd quarter, and started to light up the scoreboard with a drive-and-1 and a 3 — giving NY a 44-42 lead.

Brunson finally hit his first bucket of the game late in the quarter, and KAT followed with a drive and NY went into the half leading 50-49.

5. Detroit Goes on Run to Take 10-Pt Lead in 3rd

But Detroit jumped on top at the start of the 3rd — an Ausar Thompson dunk off a Cunningham assist, a Tim Hardaway Jr. 3, a Cunningham drive-and-1, and another Thompson dunk off a Jalen Duren assist and Detroit was up 59-53.

Tobias Harris hit a drive and a 3, and Ausar Thompson dunked again off a Cunningham assist and Detroit opened up a 10-pt lead.

6. Knicks 9-0 Run Cuts Detroit Lead to 77-74 Entering 4th

But the Knicks came back. Brunson FINALLY rimmed in a 3, OG hit a drive, Josh Hart hit a drive, and in between Mitchell Robinson made the 2nd of 2 free throws twice — as Detroit was purposely fouling him to send him to the line. It all resulted in a 9-pt Knick run to pull them within 71-70.

A Mitchell Robinson dunk off a Hart assist with 1:43 left pulled NY within 73-72. A Mikal Bridges J from the right side with 2 seconds left in the 3rd pulled NY to within 77-74.

7. Knicks Lead 88-87 with 6:53 Left

And then at the start of the 4th quarter, KAT free throws and a Bridges 3 put NY up 82-79. The Knicks were in position to take the game and the series.

But Detroit would not go away — Cunningham kept driving and getting to the line, and Jalen Duren kept getting open for scores inside.

Still, when Brunson hit an 18-footer-and-1 with 6:53 left, NY had an 88-87 lead.

8. KAT 3 Ties Game 95-95 with 3:25 Left

It was a dogfight to the end. Cunningham with a drive, followed by a HUGE offensive rebound and left-handed putback by Mitchell Robinson. Tie game at 90-90 with 5:15 left.

Cunningham was fouled on a drive and made 2 free throws, and then hit a 3 to put Detroit up by 5 — but Mikal Bridges hit a J, and KAT hit a HUGE 3 to tie the game 95-95 with 3:25 left.

9. Detroit Takes It Down Stretch with Brunson & Hart on Sidelines

But Cunningham fed Duren for a dunk and Josh Hart took a bad fall underneath. Thibs was forced to call time as Hart could not get up from the floor. It was a huge timeout to lose. At the same time, Brunson tweeked his bad ankle on the outside — and so he left the court too — both went off to the lockerroom.

Cunningham Stars at End

Miles McBride and Cameron Payne took their places, respectively — and Detroit broke free: KAT blocked a Cunningham drive but Duren dunked home the offensive rebound, and then Cunningham hit a drive and Detroit was up 101-95 with 1:57 left.

Both Hart and Brunson returned from the lockerroom but stood on the sidelines unable to get in the game as play continued and Thibs didn’t want to use his final timeout.

Bridges hit a deuce with 50 seconds left to pull NY within 4, but Ausar Thompson killed the Knicks one final time with a drive inside off a Cunningham feed with 27 seconds left on the clock.

“Cade Cunningham doesn’t solely rely on if his shot is falling early or not to impact a game,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “As he still creates for others, defends, rebounds, competes and stays true to himself by playing at his pace while using his size/strength to get to the line along with staying in the moment.”

Finally Brunson and Hart were able to re-enter the game.

The Knicks inbounded and Bridges hit a quick 3 to pull NY within 3 with 25 seconds left. Dennis Schroder Jr. hit only 1 of 2 free throws, and then OG hit a 3 and NY was down 104-103 with 7 seconds left!

But Cunningham made 2 free throws off a Knick purposeful foul.

NY had the ball down by 3 points with 5 seconds left — but Detroit purposely fouled Miles McBride to send him to the line. The Knicks’ only hope was that he miss the 2nd free throw and they get an offensive rebound. But McBride missed the first free throw snuffing any chance the Knicks had.

10. Knicks Didn’t Hit their Free Throws

The Knicks outrebounded Detroit 49-45, and out-shot them from 3 (9-25 for 36% vs Detroit’s 8-29 for 27%) but the Knicks didn’t hit their free throws (16-27 vs Detroit’s 26-36). Detroit got 9 more free throws.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401768044

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