Cade Cunningham, Pistons Clip Knicks At Midway Mark
The New York Knicks lacked the necessary horsepower to stifle the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.
Behind a dominant second half for franchise face Cade Cunningham, the Pistons denied the Knicks consecutive victories, taking a 124-119 decision at Madison Square Garden.
All but seven of Cunningham's 36 points came in the second half as Detroit (21-19) earned its seventh victory over the last eight games. Since ending a 16-game losing streak in meetings against the Knicks in early December, the Pistons own a 12-4 record, tied with Indiana for the third-best record in the NBA in that span.
New York (26-15) hit the midway mark of the season in heartbreaking fashion while dealing with some lingering ailments: Jalen Brunson partook in the contest and scored 31 points despite showing up as questionable on the injury report after a Sunday injury scare while Karl-Anthony Towns posted another double-double (26 points, 12 rebounds) despite clearly dealing with an injured thumb that got a tape job at halftime.
Josh Hart likewise put up a double-double (14 rebounds, 12 points) while Mikal Bridges scored 27, most of the tallies earned through a 6-of-8 effort from three-point range.
All that and more, however, were mere moral victories as the Knicks once again failed to generate a winning streak in the new year. The game was defined by brilliant bookends from Detroit reserve Malik Beasley: he was a perfect 4-of-4 from deep in an opening dozen that saw the Pistons put up 37 points and he later had the daggers in the final stages as the Knicks' comeback necessitated by Cunningham's breakout proved futile.
The Knicks had previously worked their way into the game with a strong second quarter after trailing by 11 after the first dozen. Brunson made up the difference on his own while Towns and Cameron Payne put in eight each. The Knicks generated a four-point lead by halftime but Cunningham's emergence put the Pistons back ahead by as much as nine in the third. He scored half of the Pistons' 36 points in the period and flipped momentum with a pair of successful and-ones that quieted an MSG crowd that featured Patrick Ewing.
Though the deficit sat at only five entering the final frame, the Knicks never led again after Cunningham's onslaught. Every time they whittled Detroit's lead down to a possession, a turnover, poor shot choice, or defensive lapse re-established the status quo.
For example, granted a chance to take the lead in the penultimate minute after a rare Cunningham miss, Towns was charged with a moving screen that sent the ball back Detroit's way. It was the last of six turnovers for the ailing Towns and the final of 16 as a team. Consecutive threes from Beasley (the last six of 22 points in just under 18 minutes of action) in the final minute sealed the Knicks' fate and created the final margin, dooming them to their fifth loss in the last seven games.
Defense once again proved to be the Knicks' downfall: in addition to the relative no-show in the opening period, the Knicks allowed the suddenly surging Pistons to pull in 11 offensive rebounds, which yielded 18 second chance points. New York has also allowed just under 115 points per game since the calendar flip, the sixth-worst rate in the league in 2025.
The Knicks will hit the road for their next game but they won't have to go far, as they'll face the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).