Hart Breaker! Knicks Survive Pistons' Challenge, Grimes of Passion
Quentin Grimes had no love lost for the New York Knicks ... but Josh Hart helped the team avoid a devastating loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Facing a Detroit Pistons group they bartered with at the trade deadline, the Knicks escaped from Madison Square Garden on Monday night with a 113-111 victory earned via Josh Hart's and-one put-in with just over two seconds remaining.
Despite leading by as much as 13, the Knicks (35-23) need to cash in a double in the dying seconds to push away the pesky Pistons, who were energized by 14 late points for the ex-New Yorker Grimes, all of them coming in the final period. Seconds before Hart's heroics, Grimes silenced the Garden with a driving lay-up that gave the Pistons a one-point lead with 37 seconds remaining.
Brad Penner, USA TODAY SPORTS
The Knicks' response, a would-be Jalen Brunson triple, fell short, leading to a Grimes rebound. Grimes got it to Simone Fontecchio, who subsequently lost it to Donte DiVincenzo, whose ill-advised pass landed in the arms of no teammate but rather Ausar Thompson.
A gaggle of Knicks quickly surrounded Thompson, who was knocked down by DiVincenzo. Brunson got control of the loose ball and found an open Hart, who laid in the fateful two while he was fouled by Jalen Duren. Hart missed the subsequent free throw but got his own rebound before he was immediately fouled again. Another miss after a successful first try finally ran the clock out, giving the Knicks the all-too-narrow victory.
Hart's winners capped off a 23-point night, tying his season-high. The Knicks need contributions from each of their Villanova-based regulars to hold off Detroit: Jalen Brunson scored 35 points while his vital pass to Hart was his 12th assist of the night. Donte DiVincenzo rounded that group out with 21 points, most of that built on a 5-of-10 outing from three-point range.
Monday's matchup marked the first get-together between the Knicks and Pistons since a trade deadline deal sent a package headlined by Grimes and Evan Fournier to the Motor City in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. The game was originally slated to be held at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit but was moved to MSG to compensate the Knicks for playing an extra road game against the Boston Celtics in the latter stages of the NBA's In-Season Tournament.
A revised visit from the woebegone Pistons was also set to welcome relief from a Knicks group reeling from a Saturday tilt with the league-leading Celtics. Instead, New York needed to muster every effort it could to stave off a challenge from the NBA's cellar-dwellers.
Detroit (8-49) made it clear that it had no intention of laying down for the Knicks from the get-go: Cade Cunningham scored eight of the Pistons' first 14 points as they built an early lead but a 19-6 run seemed to tilt the scales back in the Knicks' favor by the end of the period. A burst from former Detroiters Bogdanovic and Burks saw the Knicks go on a 9-0 run to open the second but the Pistons never let them truly pull away, setting the stage for Grimes' would-be heroics and the chaotic final half-minute.
Cunningham paced the Pistons with 32 points (nearly half earned on a 5-of-10 rate from three-point range) while Jalen Duren put up a 16-rebound, 11-point double-double. Though the Knicks have won 14 in a row over Detroit, each of their first two meetings this year have been undeniably close for comfort, as they prevailed by only six in the first meeting back in November. Detroit comes back to MSG for one more get-together on March 25.
The Knicks have little, if any, time to get over the Pistons' challenge, as they immediately welcome in the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
