Knicks suffer ugly loss to Pistons in front of their legends
With dozens of big-name players from different generations of the Knicks’ past seated courtside at the Garden, the Knicks were forced to play Saturday night without one of their current stars.
With imported center Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined for the second time this season, the Knicks failed to maintain their recent crispness at both ends of the floor before a late rally fell short in a 120-111 home loss to the Pistons to halt their four-game winning streak.
Former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham had a triple-double with 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who shot 50.0 percent from 3-point range (18-for-36).
Malik Beasley nailed seven treys and finished with 23, and Jaden Ivey added 16 for Detroit (10-15).
About 40 former Knicks — including Naismith Hall of Famers Clyde Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Jerry Lucas, Bob McAdoo, Bernard King, Spencer Haywood and Patrick Ewing, plus the families of Dean Meminger and Anthony Mason — were in attendance and introduced during a “homecoming” celebration at halftime.
loss to the Pistons. Robert Sabo for New York Post
The Knicks (14-9) were outrebounded 43-31 without Towns, who was a late scratch with an issue with his left knee.
Jalen Brunson remained in the lineup after suffering a back contusion Thursday night against the Hornets and finished with 31 points and 10 assists to lead the Knicks (14-9).
Mikal Bridges scored 20 points, OG Anunoby had 17 with four steals and Josh Hart also scored 17 before receiving his second technical foul and an ejection in the closing minutes for the Knicks, who finished 11-for-33 from 3-point range.
Jericho Sims started at center in place of Towns, but he played only six first-half minutes, with Tom Thibodeauy turning to Precious Achiuwa to start the third quarter, while also including rookie Ariel Hukporti in the rotation.