Madison Square Garden was eerily quiet. Jalen Brunson was hobbling, the Knicks trailed late in the third quarter, and the Detroit Pistons were on the brink of ending their NBA-record 14-game postseason losing streak. But then, something flipped.
Brunson left the court—what looked like a routine sneaker change may have been something more. Whatever it was, it worked. What followed was a playoff moment for the ages: a stunning 21-0 run in the fourth quarter that powered the New York Knicks to a 123-112 comeback victory over the Pistons in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series Saturday night.
Brunson, who had struggled mightily in the first half and appeared to re-aggravate a right ankle injury that cost him 15 games late in the season, erupted in the fourth quarter. After starting just 4-for-15 from the field, the All-Star point guard finished with 34 points, leading a furious rally that left the Garden crowd in a frenzy.
“We just needed a spark,” Brunson said postgame. “Once we found that rhythm, the energy from the crowd took it from there.”
That spark came in the form of Cam Payne. The veteran guard scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, igniting the run with a three-point play. Brunson followed with a bucket, and Payne nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 98—all part of a nearly five-minute blitz that turned an eight-point deficit into a 13-point lead.
The Pistons, playing in their first playoff game since 2019, had looked poised and confident for much of the night. They led 98-90 with just over nine minutes remaining and seemed destined to finally snap a postseason losing skid that dates back to the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals. But as turnovers mounted and the Knicks’ defensive pressure tightened, Detroit unraveled.
Payne and Brunson combined for the first 17 points of the run. Josh Hart capped it with back-to-back buckets, putting the Knicks up 111-98 with 4:50 to play. The sellout crowd, once anxious and subdued, roared with every Pistons miscue.
Karl-Anthony Towns, making his Knicks playoff debut after a blockbuster midseason trade, was rock-solid with 23 points and 11 rebounds. OG Anunoby also chipped in 23 points for the No. 3-seeded Knicks, who will host Game 2 on Monday night at the Garden.
For the Pistons, Tobias Harris led the way with 25 points, but just three of those came after halftime. Cade Cunningham posted 21 points and 12 assists in his playoff debut, but struggled with efficiency, going 8-for-21 from the field under relentless pressure from New York’s defense.
Despite the disappointing finish, Detroit showed plenty of fight for three quarters. But against a Knicks team that’s been here before—and a Garden crowd ready to erupt—it wasn’t enough.
Now, the Pistons’ postseason losing streak stands at 15.
The Knicks, meanwhile, are up 1-0, and with a healthy-enough Brunson and a surging supporting cast, they look ready for more.
