ESPN News Services
Apr 27, 2025, 04:28 PM ET
DETROIT -- Karl-Anthony Towns made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 46.6 seconds left and finished with 27 points, Jalen Brunson had 32 points and 11 assists, and the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons 94-93 on Sunday to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Tim Hardaway Jr. attempted a 3-pointer just before the buzzer and drew some light contact from New York's Josh Hart that wasn't called a foul at the end of a physical game with few whistles from the officials.
Crew chief David Guthrie told pool reporters after the game that a foul should have been called on Hart.
"During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play," Guthrie said. "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."
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said repeatedly that there was contact on Hardaway's shot attempt.
"There's contact on Tim Hardaway's jump shot. I don't know any other way around it, there's contact on his jump shot," Bickerstaff said. "The guy [Hart] leaves his feet; he's at Timmy's mercy. I repeat, there's contact on his jump shot."
Detroit's Cade Cunningham had 25 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his first playoff triple-double but missed two shots and turned the ball over in the final 1:07.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in New York.
The Pistons have lost nine straight home playoff games since 2008, equaling an NBA record set by Philadelphia from 1968 to 1971.
The Knicks expected Detroit's best punch, then came out swinging.
Towns scored in the post and had a block, OG Anunoby had a block in the opening minute and New York went on a 14-2 run to take a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter.
The Knicks' smothering defense forced six turnovers and scored 10 points off them to take a 29-19 lead after the first quarter.
New York led by as much as 16 points in the second quarter before the Pistons went on an 11-0 run to help them pull within seven at halftime.
In the third, when Detroit outscored the Knicks 28-14 to take a seven-point lead, Cunningham was the best player on the court.
He had 12 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), five assists, five rebounds and three blocks.
The Knicks had a scare late in the third when Brunson limped off the court and toward the locker room with an apparent right knee injury, but he returned to form in the closely contested fourth quarter.
Detroit was without Isaiah Stewart for a third straight game because of a knee injury, and Bickerstaff said it would be really difficult for the rugged center to return in the series.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
