Jalen Brunson lived up to his Clutch Player of the Year award, scoring eight points in the final two minutes to help the New York Knicks hold off the Detroit Pistons for a 118-116 victory in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night at Little Caesers Arena to take a 2-1 series lead.
The star guard scored 30 points, but Karl-Anthony Towns carried the Knicks throughout the night, overcoming a nightmare Game 2 (11 points on 10 shots, none attempted in the fourth quarter) by leading all scorers with 31 points and eight rebounds.
Finally carrying a healthy lead into the fourth quarter, the Pistons used a 12-4 run late in the game to cut the Knicks’ once-healthy advantage to 108-105 with a minute and a half remaining.
Brunson answered the call with four straight points on driving layups in 25 seconds to provide the necessary breathing room to get back into the driver’s seat of the series.
After playing catch-up through the first two games of the series, New York surged ahead thanks to a strong finish in the first half, going on a 27-10 run to take a 66-53 lead at the break.
OG Anunoby scored 18 of his 22 points in the opening 24 minutes while three others — Towns, Brunson, and Mikal Bridges — had at least 13. Bridges, who went scoreless in the fourth quarter in Game 2, scored 20 points in the win.
The Pistons hung tough throughout the night, though, going on a 16-4 third-quarter run to pull within one at 72-71, but the Knicks answered with a 21-12 run in the final 5:40 of the frame to take a 93-83 lead heading into the fourth.
Cade Cunningham and former Knick Tim Hardaway Jr. tied for a team-high 24 points for Detroit, while Dennis Schroder added 18 off the bench.
