Knicks ‘wingstop’ Put Crunch-time Clamps On Pistons’ Cade Cunningham For Game 4 Win

DETROIT — This is why you pay OG Anunoby and trade for Mikal Bridges — even if the cost of doing business is steep. Because when the Knicks need stops, they call on the wings.

Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham got hot in the second, third and fourth quarters of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at Little Caesars Arena and posted 25 points, nine rebounds and nine assists on 11-of-21 shooting from the field. But with the game on the line in crunch time, Anunoby forced a Cunningham mid-range miss, Bridges forced a Cunningham turnover on a drive to the rim, then Anunoby forced another mid-range miss on the game’s final possession.

The Knicks then got bailed out by the baseline official who opted against calling a foul on Josh Hart, who bumped Tim Hardaway Jr. on a three-point shot as time expired.

The shot was off. The buzzer sounded, and the Knicks scurried off the court with a 94-93 victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Pistons with Game 5 back at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

The crunch-time stops on Cunningham negated an epic collapse by a Knicks team that led by 16 points in the second quarter, but found themselves down 11 with 8:35 to go in the fourth quarter. Bridges’ late-game stop on Cunningham also erased the memory of a brutal shooting night. The star wing shot just 3-of-12 from the field for eight points in 44 minutes.

They also underscored one of the Knicks’ biggest strengths: defensive versatility on the wings, which will be tested should they close-out the Pistons and advance to the second round for a date with the reigning champion Boston Celtics.

Knicks captain Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points and 11 assists on 13-of-26 shooting from the field, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 27 points on 5-of-6 shooting from downtown. The two came up with huge baskets in the fourth quarter, including a step-back three from Towns to put the Knicks up one late. Brunson scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter after limping off the floor with an apparent leg injury in the third.

The Knicks made it a point to hunt Towns early in low-post position, and his early scoring paid dividends with accuracy behind the arc.

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said ahead of tipoff limiting shot attempts for both Towns and Anunoby was a point of emphasis for Game 4.

“You saw that game last game — Towns got open threes early in the game, OG got corner threes that weren’t contested. So we’ve just gotta make them earn everything and make their touches more difficult. Tobias has done a really good job of making Towns’ job difficult. Obviously he was in foul trouble last game so he didn’t get the matchup as much as we would have liked but he does a really good job of just limiting his touches and making him have to work and earn everything and we gotta get back to that

The Pistons had an opportunity to tie the series at two games apiece and force a potential Game 7 by protecting home court. But the Knicks were able to cut Cunningham’s water off when it mattered most: in crunch time — and the more experienced team stayed composed down the stretch as the Pistons, in their first playoff appearance since 2019, collapsed in real-time.

“It’s urgency but not panic. And you go back and watch the film and I still believe that there are things that we did that kind of hurt ourselves. And if we correct those things we’ll give ourselves a chance to win like we have in probably two out of the three games so far,” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “So if we focus on the details, stay in the moment, don’t get caught up in the noise and the distractions and just pay attention to all the little things that impact winning and make us our best, we’ll give ourselves a chance at it.”

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said his team wouldn’t feed into the narrative that the Knicks needed to prepare for a more desperate Pistons team on Sunday — but it was clear from the way Detroit came out that they knew they needed to win.

The Pistons fell short, and now the Knicks can close out at home.

“To me it’s understanding what goes into winning. I think for the media and social media, it’s to add all that other stuff into it,” Thibodeau said. “And for us, it’s don’t get lost in all that stuff cause that stuff doesn’t matter. What matters is how you prepare yourself to win. And understand what goes into winning and if you do that, you’ll enhance your chance of winning.”