The New York Knicks escaped Detroit on Sunday afternoon with a wild one-point win, which pushed them to a 3-1 lead in their opening-round playoff series with the Pistons.
The win, though, only came after a controversial no-call in the final seconds that sent Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff storming after the officials on the court at Little Caesars Arena while the Knicks players celebrated around them. It was so blatant that the officials calling the game admitted their mistake later on Sunday, too.
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The Pistons had the ball down by a single point with 11.1 seconds left on the clock and were looking for a potential game-winner. Pistons star Cade Cunningham took a shot from the left elbow, but was off the mark. After a scramble for the ball under the rim, the Pistons kicked it out to Tim Hardaway Jr. in the corner — who had just enough time to put up a shot before the buzzer sounded.
But, as Hardaway faked first, he drew a lot of contact from Knicks guard Josh Hart as he went up for the shot. Hardaway was actually knocked into a row of photographers on the baseline, and his shot missed the rim entirely. But the official, who was standing right next to Hardaway and Hart, didn’t call a foul.
So the Knicks then escaped with the 94-93 win. Bickerstaff charged out onto the floor to scream at the officials for not calling a foul there, but they simply ignored him and walked off of the court. Knicks players simply celebrated around them.
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But after the game, even the officials admitted they had made a mistake.
Hart didn’t hesitate to admit that he bumped into Hardaway, either.
“Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him,” Hart said. “Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll let the two-minute report say that. He shot faked, I felt like I kind of got there. I felt like I was kind of straight up … At the end of the game, it’s tough — especially that kind of play, bodies flying.”
Regardless, it’s too late now to change anything. The Knicks, despite the missed call, walked out of Detroit with the win.
Jalen Brunson, who left the game briefly in the second half with what looked like a bad leg injury, led the Knicks with 32 points and 11 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns added 27 points and nine rebounds, and Hart finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Though the Knicks got the win, the Pistons out-rebounded them by 16 and outscored them in the paint by 16 points.
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Cunningham had 25 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for Detroit. He’s now just the second player in franchise history to have a playoff triple-double. Tobias Harris added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Hardaway had 14 points. He went just 4-of-13 from behind the arc, too.
The Knicks will have a chance to close out the Pistons in Game 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.