Malik Beasley & Pistons Throttle Knicks in Final Seconds. Detroit 124 NY 119

Karl-Anthony Towns vs Isaiah Stewart. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The NBA is filled with shooters who can come off the bench and kill you on any given night.

And so it was again for the Knicks as Malik Beasley came off the Pistons bench to shoot 6-8 from 3, including two 3’s in the final 39 seconds, to beat NY 124-119 at Madison Square Garden on a Monday night.

Beasley’s performance was similar to what Isaiah Joe did to NY for Oklahoma City on Friday night.

The Knicks played well all night, but the Pistons did too — and the game came down to the final minute. NY had the ball down 118-117 when Karl-Anthony Towns was called for an offensive foul on a moving screen — which looked like a very questionable call at best as he didn’t move much. Detroit got back the ball and Beasley hit a 3 with 39 seconds left to put Detroit up by 4 pts. Jalen Brunson scored to pull NY to within 2 pts — but Beasley hit a 3 with 6 seconds left to win it.

Beasley finished with 22 pts but it was no aberration as the 28-year-old vet averages 16.5 off the bench including 40.4 percent from 3. Beasley averaged 20.7 ppg and 19.7 ppg as Minnesota’s starting shooting guard under Ryan Saunders in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Beasley signed a 1-yr, $6M contract with Detroit last summer.

“We had a chance; we had the offensive foul; then we came down; we were in a scramble situation, and they got a good look at the 3,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “It comes down to a 1-possession game and we fell short. We have to take a look at it to see what we can do better and continue to fight to win every possession in the game; you never know which possession it is that makes the difference.”

NY — on the back-end of a back-to-back — drops to 26-15; Detroit — coached by JB Bickerstaff this season after firing Monty Williams in the off season — improves to 21-19, and are 10-2 in their last 12 games.

1. Beasley Hits Four 3’s in 1st Quarter

The Knicks played well — all the starters had a good game offensively:

  • Mikal Bridges finally broke out of his shooting slump by going 6-8 from 3 and scoring 27 points on 9-13 shooting overall.
  • Jalen Brunson had 31 pts on 12-24 shooting although he only went 1-7 from 3.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 pts on 7-17 shooting (4-9 from 3) and 12 rebounds despite playing most of the night with a wrapped up, sprained thumb that he injured trying to dunk the ball while getting fouled by Isaiah Stewart.
  • Josh Hart had 12 pts, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists.
  • OG Anunoby had 10 pts on 5-9 shooting.

Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 36 pts on 14-27 shooting (4-8 from 3) but NY handled Tobias Harris (3-12 for 11 pts) and Tim Hardaway Jr (4-12 for 10 pts).

But Malik Beasley came off Detroit’s bench to hurt NY. He hit 4 (four) 3’s in the last 4:27 of the 1st quarter to give Detroit a 37-26 lead after 1.

2. Stewart Causes KAT to Injure Thumb

Isaiah Stewart was also a spark plug for the Pistons. He came off Detroit’s bench and blocked a KAT drive with 7:49 left in the quarter, then wagged his finger Dikembe Mutumbo style. Stewart blocked an OG Anunoby drive with 4:43 left in the 1st, then was called for goaltending with 3:59 left on an OG drive.

With 45 seconds left in the quarter Stewart contested a Karl-Anthony Towns drive, fouling Towns, and causing Towns to bang his thumb against the backboard. Towns shook his thumb in obvious pain and called for the sideline to get ready to tape it up.

Towns would play the rest of the evening with a taped-up thumb, holding his hand behind his back in pain on numerous occasions especially after it got banged again on drives.

3. NY Surges Back in 2nd to Take 63-59 Lead at Half

KAT did not let the sprained thumb deter him. He continued to take it to the rim and hit 3’s all night, and rip down rebounds. KAT and Cameron Payne and Mikal Bridges keyed a Knick run in the 2nd quarter that got them in the lead — Bridges hitting 3’s from the corner on his quick release jumper, and KAT hitting 3’s from the top of the key.

NY went into the half up 63-59 after a Beasley 3 with 1.2 seconds left was ruled no good because the shot clock expired just as he was about to release the ball.

4. Cunningham Is Piston’s Engine in 3rd

But in the 3rd quarter, the Pistons came back — led by Cade Cunningham who was a handful.

The 6’6 Cunningham — the #1 overall pick in the 2021 draft — hit 3’s, drives, deuce’s in the lane, pullups, floaters — he showed his wide arsenal as Josh Hart and OG Anunoby and the Knicks did everything to defend him.

“Cade Cunningham has a real nice skillset, plays the game at his pace, understands how to utilize his size/strength while not just playing to his strength but also the Pistons strengths,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Tough to guard with his ability to score the ball in a variety of ways and plays on both ends.”

Cunningham led Detroit into the lead, but the Knicks hung tough on scoring by KAT and 3’s from the corner by Mikal Bridges. OG Anunoby got back at Isaiah Stewart by dunking on him late in the quarter, and having some words for him afterwards.

Detroit entered the 3rd quarter with a 95-90 lead.

5. Beasley Kills Knicks at the End

Beasley and Cunningham continued to score at the beginning of the 4th, but Mikal Bridges hit big 3’s to keep NY in it and a KAT 3 from the top of the key pulled NY to within 103-98 with 9 minutes left.

Then Jalen Brunson took over with a drive and a pullup, and a Josh Hart offensive rebound and tip in pulled NY to within 105-103 with 7:16 left.

Detroit kept having answers — Marcus Sasser with a 3 and a Jalen Duren dunk put Detroit up by 7 again with 5 minutes left.

But an Anunoby offensive rebound and tip in, and a Brunson floater-and-1 made it a 2-pt game again with 4 minutes left.

Cade Cunningham took it to the Knicks with a drive, a floater, and a drive for free throws — but NY countered with drives by Brunson and Hart, and a 3 by Bridges making it 118-117 Detroit with 1:26 left.

Cunningham missed a shot and the Knicks had the ball with a minute left looking to take the lead. And that’s when KAT was called for an offensive foul while setting a screen on the outside — Ausar Thompson selling it.

Detroit got the ball back and Beasley hit the first of two 3’s in the final 39 seconds. His 3 with 6 seconds left won it.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705115

 

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