With 8:35 left in the fourth quarter, Malik Beasley hit a deep three, giving the Detroit Pistons an 11-point lead.
Little Caeser’s Arena was going crazy as the 2025 version of Detroit Basketball conjured up memories of the Detroit Bad Boys era.
The Knicks spent much of the afternoon being beaten up by Detroit but found a way to scratch out a 94-93 win to go up 3-1 in the series.
Karl Anthony-Towns was bumped and bruised every time he drove to the basket, yet he scored what could have been the most important five points of the game. KAT what looked like an impossible eight-footer on the baseline from behind the basket. That was followed by a 27-foot step-back three-pointer that gave the Knicks a 94-93 lead with 47 seconds left.
Jalen Brunson limped off the floor late in the third quarter as the game was getting away from New York. Brunson responded by scoring 15 points on 7-11 shooting in the fourth quarter.
But the game came down to the final possession. With the Knicks one-point and Detroit with the ball, the arena knew the ball would go to Cade Cunningham.
The ball rolled on the floor for what seemed to be an eternity and ended in Tim Hardaway Jr.’s hands. Hardaway Jr. picked it up and was poised to try to stick the final dagger into the Knicks when Josh Hart contested. Hardaway Jr. contorted his body, and contact was made with Hart.
Hardaway Jr. would miss, and the buzzer sounded. No whistle. No nothing.
JB Bickerstaff ran after the officials. Detroit players and fans were melting down, and the Knicks walked off the floor with the win.
The NBA’s Pool Report read:
QUESTION: What did you see on that last series and why wasn’t there a foul called on Tim Hardaway Jr.’s three-point attempt?
GUTHRIE: During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called.
This is where the “it’s the playoffs” becomes a problem in the playoffs. Every playoff series has been more physical than the regular season and not slightly more physical. It looks like a different game.
An argument can also be made for the NHL. Yes, there is more physicality allowed, but the difference between what happens in the regular season and what happens in the NHL’s playoffs isn’t as big of a gap as the NBA’s, and it isn’t close.
The refs had swallowed the whistle the entire day, so it’s not shocking that it didn’t blow there.
The NBA must address how the games are called during the regular season. If more physicality is allowed, the injury count will rise, which in turn will raise the number of games missed.
That’s more than superficial when you consider that there is a 65-game benchmark on regular season awards, which impacts how much players can be paid. It’s more than saying “blow the whistle less.”
So today the Knicks got away with a bump that could have been called but wasn’t being called all day. It’s a bump that New York needs to close out a Pistons team that has given them problems all season.
