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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DETROIT (FOX 2) – The man police say left behind two kittens at a Detroit gas station, leaving one dead, has been arrested.

What they’re saying:

25-year-old Brandon Littke is facing three felonies for allegedly tossing two kittens out of his SUV, hitting and killing one of them.

With cameras all over the gas station, it was license plate readers in two cities that led investigators to exactly who they were looking for.

Littke was arrested on Friday and released Monday on a $25,000 personal bond.

He claims it was an accident.

The backstory:

The incident happened last week at the BP gas station at Grand River and 7 Mile. Littke allegedly hit one of the kittens, who is seen flailing as his littermate looks on. A few hours later, the surviving kitten, now named “Diesel,” was rescued at the gas station.

He was in perfect shape and is now in the hands of Michigan Humane until the investigation wraps up.

As for tracking Littke, DPD partnered with Redford Township and together used license plate readers to find him at a home in Redford.

It’s unclear who the cat’s owner is, but Littke lives with them.

FOX 2 was told they too were horrified to learn what had happened.

What’s next:

He’s charged with killing an animal, abandoning two animals, and being a habitual offender.

Littke does have a criminal record; he was charged a few years back with robbery but nothing animal-related.

The Detroit Tigers are coming off of an 11-game homestand and are in the middle of a four-game win streak, and they will hope for that to continue as they prepare to face a struggling Houston Astros offense.

In their last five games, the Tigers’ pitching staff has surrendered just seven runs. That has come against two top-15 offenses in the San Diego Padres and the Baltimore Orioles.

The Astros’ offense they are set to take on currently ranks tied for No. 24 in MLB with a team wRC+ of just 87.

Houston does also have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, but Detroit’s offense will be lucking out since they are missing the two best starting pitchers the Astros have to offer now that the probables for the series are set.

Monday night will be the start of the series in Houston at 8:10 p.m. ET.

The Tigers will be throwing Jack Flaherty with the Astros going with Ronel Blanco.

Flaherty just plays better while with Detroit, and he looks back to the form that he started last year with. He has a 2.63 ERA over five starts with a 1.024 WHIP and 11.2 K/9.

Blanco is known for throwing a no-hitter last season in his first game of the year, but he has been off to a much quieter start during this campaign.

The second game of the series, Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. ET, will see Reese Olson on the mound for Detroit with Ryan Gusto taking the ball for Houston.

Olson is on a red-hot pitching streak with 12.1 scoreless innings over his last two starts. His ERA is down to 3.29 and he is looking as good as he has in his young career.

Gusto is a rookie who is starting out of necessity for the Astros, but he has been very solid with a 3.68 ERA over his three career starts.

The final game of the series will take place on Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET.

It will be the rookie sensation Jackson Jobe pitching for the Tigers and most likely Hayden Wesneski doing so for Houston.

Jobe has been solid in his full rookie campaign with a 2.70 ERA, but he will look to hone in his control and start generating some more strikeouts.

Wesneski is in line for the start, but he did have some velocity issues in his last outing that could cause the Astros to rest him.