NEW YORK — The Detroit Pistons entered an elimination Game 5 on the road with a simple mindset — it’s just one game. 

They went out and executed, defeating the New York Knicks 106-103 to force a Game 6 in Detroit on Thursday. Cunningham scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 5.4 seconds remaining in the game to give the Pistons a three-point cushion to hold onto the win. 

Ausar Thompson had his best playoff game thus far with 22 points (on 8-for-10 shooting), seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. 

Cade Cunningham starts slow, finishes strong 

The franchise player had arguably his worst first half of the series, entering halftime with four points, three rebounds, two assists and three turnovers on 2-for-8 overall shooting. It was an uncharacteristic two quarters for Cunningham, who’s been the Pistons’ best player by far but, at times, has had issues with the Knicks’ physicality and long-armed defenders. 

The third quarter was better — he only made one of three shot attempts but went 5-for-6 at the free throw line, with four assists, two steals, a block and just one turnover. An alley-oop to Thompson a minute into the period gave the Pistons the lead, 51-50, and ran the show as the Pistons used an 18-6 run to take their biggest lead of the night, 69-59, at the 4:58 mark. 

In the final period, Cunningham scored seven-straight points — a coast-to-coast layup, pair of free throws and a 3-pointer — to give the Pistons the lead again, 95-90, with 4:17 left in the game after the Knicks battled back at the end of the third. The Knicks tied it at 95 with a layup from Mikal Bridges and 3-pointer from Karl-Anthony Towns. Cunningham had the answers down the stretch, though. 

A Cunningham-to-Duren alley-oop gave the Pistons the lead again, 97-95, and hit a floater a possession after a second-chance layup from Duren to build a six-point lead with under two minutes left, 101-95. With 27.4 seconds left, he answered a Knicks bucket by finding Thompson open under the rim to push it to six again, 103-97, before making the winning free throws. 

STAR POWER IN DETROIT: In Pistons-Knicks series, Cade Cunningham has shown he can carry a franchise going forward

Ausar Thompson delivers series-best performance

Before the game, J.B. Bickerstaff acknowledged the challenge of playing Thompson in the fourth quarter. He’s the Pistons’ only viable defensive option against Brunson, who has torched the Pistons late in games. However, his lack of shooting and proclivity for turning the ball over during the playoffs led to the coaching staff prioritizing shooting and ball-handling in crunch time. 

In the Pistons’ last three games, Thompson played fewer than three minutes in the final period with Bickerstaff leaning toward Schroder, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. instead. In Game 5, Thompson was so good that they had no choice but to play him with the game on the line.

Thompson delivered his best performance of the playoffs, showing his usual strong defense on Brunson while consistently finding opportunities on offense. He struggled at the free throw line (6-for-12), but otherwise was one of the Pistons’ most reliable scorers. 

The Pistons opened the game with a 9-2 run, forcing an early timeout after Thompson mirrored Brunson and forced him to miss to end to set up a fastbreak 3-pointer on the other end for Harris. In the second quarter, he consistently made himself available for outlet passes in transition and in the dunker’s spot in halfcourt situations. He was the recipient of several entry passes from Duren, leading to open dunks. 

With 41 seconds to play in the first half, he tracked Brunson in transition and swatted his layup attempt from behind. At halftime, Thompson was tied with Harris in leading the Pistons with 10 points. 

With 7:35 remaining in the final period, he checked in for Schroder and remained in the game before the coaching staff alternated between Thompson and Schroder in the final 25 seconds, as the Knicks threatened a come-from-behind win.

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.

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