The Motor City’s miracle season is officially over.
The New York Knicks sent the Detroit Pistons packing with a 116-113 Game 6 victory on Thursday, punching their ticket to a second-round matchup against the Boston Celtics.
Jalen Brunson spearheaded the Knicks’ winning effort, finishing with a game-high 40 points on 15-of-33 shooting, including a triple in the final seconds that put New York up for good. The game-winner capped off an 11-1 run by the Knicks in the final minutes, stealing a win despite trailing by seven points at the 2:35 mark of the fourth quarter. Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby also chipped in with 25 and 22 points, respectively, while Karl-Anthony Towns added a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double.
The Pistons were led by their own star guard in Cade Cunningham as the first-time all-star tallied a team-high 23 points. All the while, Malik Beasley broke out of his shooting slump in a big way as he finished with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including five triples in the second quarter, the last of which came at the halftime buzzer.
Despite falling short of the second round, Detroit made a remarkable turnaround from a year ago. The Pistons saw an uptick of 30 wins en route to their first playoff appearance since 2019, a sizeable leap from a league-worst 14-win mark from last season. Detroit’s Game 2 win in New York also snapped an NBA-record 15-game playoff losing streak.
The Knicks now get ready to take on a Celtics squad that’s had their number all year, as the defending champs swept the regular-season series (4-0) between the Atlantic division rivals. New York will look to upset a 61-win Boston team and advance past the second round for the first time since 2000. It’ll be the first playoff matchup between the two prestige franchises since the 2013 post-season.
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