After embarrassing loss to Knicks, Pistons searched for answers

Detroit – Isaiah Stewart couldn’t take the embarrassment any longer. At 10:52 of the second quarter, coach JB Bickerstaff received a technical foul due to mounting frustration as the Detroit Pistons trailed the New York Knicks by 26 points (41-15).

When Knicks guard Miles McBride stepped to the foul line to take advantage of Bickerstaff's technique, Stewart arranged a scrum with his teammates to rouse them. Stewart implored his team to fight back, increase the intensity and do their best to get back into the game despite an early collapse.

“Come pick it up. Let’s fight,” Stewart said. “They threw shots and played a great game. Obviously they threw a lot of shots, but the message was that we should take them in.”

Stewart believes his teammates responded well to his encouraging words. The Pistons had their best quarter of the game, scoring 33 points on 66.7% shooting from the field. Unfortunately, their improved play wasn't enough to overcome an early defeat by the Knicks, resulting in a 128-98 loss at Little Caesars Arena. On Friday evening, Detroit also recorded its 16th consecutive loss against the Knicks.

“Again, for us, all of these things are things that we're constantly learning, and sometimes you have to get kicked to learn the hard way,” Bickerstaff said.

Cade Cunningham, who scored 22 points in the loss, said the Pistons didn't stick to the game plan enough and attributed their loss to poor first-unit play. However, the same problems arose in the first quarter that led to a one-win start to the 2024/25 season: turnovers and inefficient offensive execution.

Detroit recorded seven turnovers in that period, including five in the starting lineup. At one point, the Pistons recorded four giveaways in six possessions. They finished the game with 22 and conceded 30 points against New York.

The Pistons' inability to control the ball played a major role in their horrendous offensive performance. They finished the first quarter shooting 6-of-21 from the field and entered the second frame trailing the Knicks 39-13, setting an unpleasant tone for the rest of the game.

“Sales – they made us pay for everyone,” Cunningham said. “(We) allowed them to run around freely with their offense. If they move the ball like that, we should at least foul them or give them the bonus or something. If they move too freely,” and we just weren’t physical enough. The good thing is that we have two games in front of us so we can react.

Bickerstaff agreed with Cunningham's assessment. However, he also attributed the Pistons' terrible performance to a lack of maturity and respect that New York had despite their sub-.500 record. Bickerstaff noted that the Knicks were fully aware of the Pistons' competitiveness through the first five games, in which the team also defeated every representative from last season's Eastern Conference Finals – the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics – in their respective contests until the very end defeated.

“The message to the guys was, 'Because we were so competitive in these games, people show you a different level of respect, so they're going to do their best at the start of the games,'” Bickerstaff said.

“The Knicks are obviously a really good basketball team, but if you earn their respect, they won't just try to figure it out late in the game. They come out to match the energy we have.” That competitiveness is what we played with… That's what you're looking for in this league – your opponent's respect for us, and we're going to use it and build on that. and we will get better.

After a successful game against the Philadelphia 76ers two nights earlier, it was believed that the Pistons had made significant progress in their further development. Unfortunately, an embarrassing performance against the Knicks seemed to have pushed Detroit back into first place.

Although they are humiliated, the Pistons plan to apply the lessons they learned against the Knicks to bounce back on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets, which is the only positive that can come from a humiliating night.

“You have to watch the film and learn from the mistakes,” Stewart said. “We have two games ahead of us. We can’t dwell on this loss but apply these lessons to the next game.”

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