If this is the Pistons' playoff matchup, consider them ready. And consider the Knicks wary. The Pistons made a statement Thursday night with their third straight win against their likely first-round foe, flexing their defensive muscles like they have for most of this season. It was a statement to themselves more than anyone else.
"That’s Pistons basketball," head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after Detroit ramped up the intensity in the second half on its way to a 115-106 win. "I thought in the past couple of games, we’ve been trying to trade punches, but that’s not who we are. That’s not what makes us unique. The second half, we played our style. We brought the fight to our type of fight. Defensively is where it always starts for us."
By defensive rating, the Knicks and Pistons have been the NBA's two stingiest teams since the new year, in that order. The Knicks also boast the artillery to dominate on offense, but the Pistons aren't equipped to survive shootouts. Their best weapon is "our willingness to compete on the defensive end of the floor," said Bickerstaff.
"If it comes down to grit, toughness and competition," he said, "I like our chances."
They trailed by six at halftime Thursday night, and by as many as 13 in the third quarter. They weren't contesting enough shots. They weren't denying enough drives. As a unit, they weren't locked in. That changed with a 22-9 surge to close the third in which the Pistons started swarming the Knicks on one end and Cade Cunningham took over on the other. He scored 12 straight points to spark the run, and finished with 36 in his best game since returning from a calf injury.
The Knicks, it should be said, were playing without two starters -- and two defensive stalwarts -- in OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. But their big guns were out there, and neither Jalen Brunson nor Karl-Anthony Towns looked all that comfortable. Brunson scored just 15 points in his third game back from an ankle injury. Towns put up 25, but none of it came easy against Isaiah Stewart. Towns was 2-for-7 from the field when guarded by the Pistons' bruising big man, 8-for-12 against everyone else.
With the game tied at 99 with about six minutes to play, the Pistons blanked the Knicks for the next four and a half minutes to run away with the win. New York shot just 35.4 percent in the second half. If the standings hold and these two teams clash in the opening round of the playoffs -- which would start at Madison Square Garden, where the Pistons won both their games this season -- the Knicks know they're in for a tussle, if not a tug of war.
"That’s Detroit basketball," said Towns. "They play physical basketball, and they upped their physicality in the second half. We just didn’t do enough to win the game, including myself."
Stewart scored zero points, and left the floor to cheers when he fouled out late in the fourth quarter. The fans in Detroit know a difference-maker when they see one. Even the Knicks' broadcasters recognized Stewart's value to the Pistons: "He played 22 minutes, didn't score, had one rebound and yet had a profound impact on the second half of this game with his defense," they told their audience as he accepted high-fives from his teammates.
"He wears on you," said Bickerstaff. "We always talk about the job he does protecting the rim. He's elite at that, the best in the NBA in my opinion. But what makes him unique defensively? He can guard anywhere on the floor. We switch him on anybody. If they have bigs that want to play on the perimeter, we feel like that’s an advantage, too. We're confident putting him on anybody."
Pistons Basketball is familiar around here, and even to the rest of the NBA. It's new to rookie Ron Holland, but not necessarily foreign. It suits him well. He scored 13 points off the bench Thursday night, and has no problem playing a rough and rugged game. It was his persistent defense that pushed the Timberwolves over the edge in a recent fight that served as notice that the Pistons are back -- and not backing down.
To Holland, Pistons Basketball is relentless, "48 minutes of playing hard" and guarding the ball, whether or not it's going in at the other end. As long as they're "locked in on defense, eventually the offense will come," said Holland, spoken more like a long-time role player than a fifth overall pick. To veteran Tim Hardaway Jr., Pistons Basketball is "in your face." No one personifies it better than Beef Stew.
While the Pistons were trying to find themselves Thursday night, the message from their two leaders was consistent. Cunningham and Bickerstaff implored the team during timeouts to "stay together." It's not just something they say, said Holland. It carries more weight than a couple words in the huddle. It represents who the Pistons are, and who they have to be to have a chance.
It could be the Knicks in the playoffs. It could also be the Pacers, a team the Pistons have already sparred with a couple times this season. Doesn't really matter to Detroit, with the Pistons hungry for their first playoff win in 17 years: "I think whoever we play," said Holland, "it’s going to be feisty."
"We bring that Detroit Bad Boys, that Detroit grit to every single game," said Holland. "And if New York is the team that we end up playing, we’re going to bring it every night."
“Yeah," said Bickerstaff, "we got no problem with the fight.”