Cunningham had 11 factors and two rebounds within the closing six minutes of the Pistons’ 106-103 victory, retaining the workforce alive towards the New York Knicks. Two days after the Pistons misplaced a heartbreaker when Cunningham missed a game-winner and the referees missed a foul on Tim Hardaway’s buzzer-beating try, Detroit’s All-Star guard took command down the stretch.
Cunningham was good from the foul line and shot 3-of-4 from the sector down the stretch, discovering Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren for straightforward baskets and grabbing two rebounds. Even when Karl-Anthony Cities blocked Cunningham’s layup, Duren grabbed the rebound for a dunk.
As for Brunson, he appeared to irritate an ankle damage late within the fourth quarter, leaving the sport and scoring simply three factors within the closing quarter. As an alternative, it was Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby hitting huge three-pointers within the closing minute to maintain the Knicks shut, however New York’s greatest likelihood got here when Brunson knocked away an inbounds go with 20 seconds to go, however the Pistons collected the free ball.
Detroit obtained assist from Cunningham’s supporting solid. Duren grabbed 14 rebounds, seven of them offensive. Tobias Harris scored 17 factors and blocked 4 photographs. Thompson scored 22 factors in a recreation the place all eight of his made area objectives got here from inside a foot of the basket.
Cities got here by defensively within the closing quarter, grabbing 5 rebounds and blocking two photographs. However the Pistons protection pressured 13 turnovers and stored the Knicks off the three-point line, limiting New York to 25 makes an attempt from distance.
Now the Pistons get to return dwelling for Recreation 6 after three straight video games taking place to the wire. With the final three video games having been determined by a complete of six factors, this sequence could effectively come to all the way down to which All-Star is most clutch. Or whether or not Brunson’s ankle heals effectively.
