The Knicks avoided disaster against the lowly Pistons at The Garden on Monday night, and it took a frantic play in the closing seconds to seal the dramatic win.
After letting a cozy lead slip away in the fourth quarter thanks to former teammate Quentin Grimes, New York looked for a game-winning shot down by one with 20 seconds to go in the game. Jalen Brunson missed a 3-pointer, but as the Pistons went to secure the rebound, the ball was knocked away back to the Knicks. Donte DiVincenzo then sent a bounce pass right into the lap of Ausar Thompson, who went to break out the other way to run out the clock.
Instead, Divincenzo dove in to knock the ball loose, taking Thompson out in the process, and the Knicks recovered the loose ball and found Josh Hart at the rim. Hart put in a contested layup, plus the foul, and MSG erupted as the Knicks grabbed the lead, and the win, with less than three seconds to go.
The win for the Knicks prevented Grimes and Evan Fournier from enjoying a revenge game in their first game back in New York since being traded on deadline day earlier this month.
