Knicks, Pistons Exchange Shows of Respect After Playoff Slugfest

Like Denzel Washington before them, the New York Knicks offered the Detroit Pistons not good bye, but see you later.

The Knicks ended one of the most exciting series on the NBA's 2025 first-round docket on Thursday, punting the Pistons by a 116-113 final in Game 6 quarterfinal action at Little Caesars Arena. New York thus secures a second-round date with the defending champion Boston Celtics and ends Detroit's magic season that saw them more than triple last year's win total of 14.

It was a series of physicality, extracirriculars, verbal warfare, and more on both sides, united only, perhaps, in their mutual distrust of officiating. When all was said and done, however, the Knicks offered their vanquished foes respect, knowing that they could well run into them again on another postseason road.

May 1, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) dribbles defended by New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) in the second half during game six of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

“I’d like to start off congratulating the Pistons on their season,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said at the top of his postgame comments in video from SNY. “(Pistons head coach) JB (Bickerstaff) and his staff did an incredible job all year long. They had a terrific season and this was an incredibly tough series.”

"Hell of a team, man," Knicks star Mikal Bridges said of the Pistons in his postgame interview with Mike Breen and Walt "Clyde" Frazier of MSG Network. "Really well coached ... They're still together and this was a great series."

While the Knicks were mostly favored in the best-of-seven set, many expected Detroit, led by 2021's top draft pick Cade Cunningham, to give the Knicks a run for their money after winning three of the fourth regular season get-togethers. The Pistons lived up to that hype and then some: the average margin of victory in the series was 4.3, by far the lowest of the NBA's eight first-round sets. The Knicks won all three games in Detroit, but did so by a combined margin of six.

Despite the losses, the Pistons and their fans made the most of the franchise's first postseason showing since 2019: those gathered at Little Caesars Arena targeted Knicks franchise face for allegations of flopping while Detroit depth star Malik Beasley targeted Bridges amidst his rollercoaster debut campaign in New York.

Both sides threatened their respective fans to one last thriller in Game 6: the Knicks jumped out to a 14-point lead after the first dozen but Detroit fought back to take a slim lead at halftime, partly aided by five three-pointers from Beasley. The Knicks re-established a double-figure lead in the second half before the Pistons engaged in another erasure and even built a seven-point advantage with less than three minutes remaining.

That served only to set up Jalen Brunson's game-winning, Ausar Thompson-crossing three pointer sunk with just over five seconds remaining. It was the capper of a game-closing 11-1 run staged amidst Pistons fans' chants of "flopper" at Brunson, who tipped the final push off with a successful and-one that was backed up by replay review initiated by a futile Detroit challenge.

“He’s a great player, so he made a big-time shot at the end,” Thompson said of Brunson, per Keith Langlois of the Pistons' official site. “I’ve got to do a better job of absorbing the contact and staying with him.”

Though Brunson put up 40 points and scored at least in all but one of the six games, he admitted that far from easy to secure those tallies with Thompson tailing him.

“That dude was tough to play against," Brunson said of Thompson, per Marlowe Alter of the Detroit Free Press. "He’s big-time. I told him straight to his face after the series. He made me work, so I have a lot of respect for him."

Knicks Pistons — May 1, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) is defended by Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (9) in the first half during game six of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

"You've got to tip your hat to Brunson for creating the space, finding his shot there at the end," Bickerstaff said, referring to Brunson as "one of the most difficult matchups in the NBA in video from SNY. "He's hard to guard ... How he can generate space at his size is remarkable. I thought Ausar did a great job on him. He just did what he does and made the one more."

Though Detroit ended several futile streaks in its brief yet eventful playoff trip, one that continues to stick out is the fact they haven't won a postseason game at home since the 2008 conference final against Boston. The Pistons managed to keep things close with the Knicks despite missing two of their prime contributors: Jaden Ivey continues to recover from a fractured fibula suffered in January while Isaiah Stewart partook in only the first game before knee inflammation relegated him to a spectator.

This offseason will likely see the Pistons go on the hunt for Cunningham assistance, though they'll have decisions to make on some prominent contributors: Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Dennis Schroder are all set to hit free agency while Ivey and Jalen Duren could land rookie contract extensions.

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