Not Good. Out Muscled by the Pistons. Again. Detroit 126 NY 111

February 21, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
Knicks fought hard but in the end were manhandled by Detroit. Again. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

Tom Thibodeau would have not let this happen.

But they fired him.

Those were the thoughts going thru some Knick fans heads as Detroit did it to the Knicks again — out muscling them and solidly beating them 126-111 on a Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

New coach Mike Brown and his team of assistant coaches didn’t have the Knicks as prepared defensively against the rugged Pistons — not as much as “Lone Wolf” Tom Thibodeau would have had them. And so Detroit — which destroyed the Knicks twice so far this season in Detroit — manhandled them again, this time in NYC. The Knicks out-maneuvered Detroit 3-2 in a tough playoff series last Spring under Thibodeau.

NY could not stop 6’6 Cade Cunningham, who destroyed them all night with killer 3’s and buckets inside for 42 pts on 17-34 shooting (5-11 from 3). And 6’9 journeyman Paul Reed — who started at center in place of an injured Jalen Duran — did a Job on Karl-Anthony Towns, making his life difficult — although Towns got his. Reed scored 18 pts on 7-9 shooting and blocked Towns inside several times in the 2nd half. Detroit’s bench killed NY as well — with Caris LaVert, Daniss Jenkins, Ronald Holland II, Javonte Green, and Tolu Smith going a combined 13-20 from the floor (4-7 from 3) for 36 pts.

Detroit was also without Isaiah Stewart. NY had OG Anunoby back, but he was rusty.

Towns had 2 pts at the half but came on in the 2nd half to finish with 21 pts (on 7-14 shooting) despite the tremendous defense played on him by Reed, and Jalen Brunson — harassed all night and stripped of the ball a couple of times — still had 33 pts on 12-20 shooting (3-7 from 3).

The game was close until Detroit ran off 6 straight points in the last minute before the half to take a 10-pt lead at intermission. NY cut into the lead in the 3rd but Detroit pushed back to go up by 11 heading into the 4th. And then a mini run to start the 4th by Detroit’s reserves put them up 17 and it was good night NY. Any time the Knicks tried to come back, Cunningham had answers.

“Beat us fair and square every time…,” said KAT afterwards. “Tonight obviously was a better showing, but there’s no moral victories.”

“They played great against us,” said Jalen Brunson afterwards. “I think today was obviously not as bad as the first two. Just not up to our standards.”

“We didn’t slow him down fast enough, or even at all,” added Jalen Brunson about Cade Cunningham. Coach Mike Brown added the Knicks didn’t force Cunningham to the sideline enough; they let him get to the middle of floor too often.

NY falls to 35-21; Detroit improves to 41-13 and cements themselves as the favorites to come out of the East.

1. NY Jumps Out to Lead; Cunningham & Detroit Come Right Back

The Knicks came out with fire and determination, looking to make up for their horrid performances in the prior two meetings in Detroit this season, when they were pasted from start to finish for 40-pt losses.

NY — led by Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges — got out to a 9-2 lead.

But Detroit and Cade Cunningham quickly pushed back — Cunningham with a 3 and a bucket-and-1 and to make it 13-10 NY.

Cunningham hit another 3 a few minutes later to put Detroit up 17-15, then fed Paul Reed for a bucket-and-1 inside, then hit Another 3 and Detroit was up 23-17.

“Tweeted below in 2021 on Cade Cunningham,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Cade also plays to his strengths by dictating what he wants and where he wants to go, plays at his tempo, uses his size/strength to his advantage but also makes others better, along with filling a stat sheet all while playing within himself.”

Mitchell Robinson came in and scored on a dunk inside off a Mohamed Diawara assist, then hit 2 free throws late in the period to pull NY within 28-26.

2. Close Game Until Detroit Mini-Run Just Before Half

Landry Shamet played well all game (15 pts on 4-10 shooting, 3-8 from 3) — he and Mitchell Robinson and the 2nd team kept pace with Detroit’s 2nd team at the start of the 2nd quarter.

KAT was being denied inside — he got his first bucket of the game with 2 minutes left in the 2nd quarter — making it a 49-46 game, Detroit.

The game was 51-48 Detroit with 1:02 left in the half when Cunningham hit a jumper, a Josh Hart pass was intercepted by Ausar Thompson who fed Duncan Robinson for a 3, and Thompson scored on a layup to put Detroit up 56-46 at intermission.

Killer last minute.

3. KAT Comes on in 2nd Half; NY Cuts Into Lead But Detroit Pushes Back

Karl-Anthony Towns came out of the lockerroom with 2 pts — and took it to the basket in the 2nd half — finishing with 21 pts on 7-14 shooting.

KAT hit a 3-and-1 early in the 3rd, dunked inside, and scored again inside for 8 straight points early in the 3rd to pull NY within 62-60.

But motherfucker Duncan Robinson — formerly a killer in Miami — hit back-to-back 3’s and Detroit was back up 68-60.

4. Cunningham, Reed, and Detroit D Too Tough for NY to Handle

The game went back and forth throughout the 3rd. Jeremy Sochan made his NY Knick debut, coming in to guard Cunningham. And he blocked a Cunningham shot late in the 3rd.

But Cunningham continued to punish NY — including Sochan — by hitting key shots despite tough Knick Defense.

Detroit led by 11 heading into the 4th quarter.

Paul Reed was banging against KAT, blocking his shot a couple of times in the 4th.

Brunson was being hounded as well, with a secondary defender coming out of nowhere to strip him of the ball when he went into his spin moves. Still Brunson persevered to score 33 pts on 12-20 shooting.

5. Detroit Reserves Push Lead to Teens Early in 4th

A KAT bucket inside pulled NY within 10 early in the 4th, but Paul Reed scored a bucket-and-1 down the other end, and Caris LeVert hit a 3 and just like that NY was down 16 at 97-81. Killer.

NY pushed back but LeVert hit another 3 to make it 102-85, and then Daniss Jenkins and Javonte Green scored and Detroit went up by 19, 106-88 with 7 minutes left.

6. NY Didn’t Quit — Pushed Back Twice in 4th

Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Landry Shamet pushed back — Brunson with 3 buckets in a 9-2 run by NY that pulled them within 12 pts with 5 minutes left — at 109-97 NY.

But Cade Cunningham hit a 3, and Ausar Thompson came around the weak side to strip the ball from Brunson on a spin move for a Daniss Jenkins layup and it was 114-97 Detroit and good night New York.

Paul Reed then blocked a Mitchell Robinson shot inside for a final middle finger to NY.

The Knicks kept playing — KAT with a drive-and-1 inside, OG Anunoby finally hitting a 3, and Brunson hitting a 3 to pull NY within 11 with 1:37 left.

7. Detroit Hit their 3’s, NY Didn’t

On top of the tough Detroit D, they hit their 3 (13-30 for 43%) while the Knicks didn’t (8-35 for 23%). Some of that was due to Detroit’s defense. OG Anunoby — just back from being out 2 weeks with a toe injury — was rusty, going 1-8 from 3, Mikal Bridges was 0-3 from 3, and Jose Alvarado was 0-5 from 3. Hitting some 3’s would have helped.

8. NY Figured Out Detroit’s D in 2nd Half

NY was limited to only 26 pts in the 1st quarter and 22 pts in the 2nd — but showed signs that they figured out Detroit’s defense by scoring 31 pts in the 3rd quarter and 32 pts in the 4th.

Afterwards, Metta World Peace had some encouraging words on the Knicks and the game: “I saw some areas where they might have a chance to advance to the finals even though Detroit is looking better than the 2004 pistons and isthe front runner in an NBA title.”

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810651

 

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*