Malik Beasley meant business in New York City earlier this week. As the Detroit Pistons faced off against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Beasley got off to a hot start.

In the first quarter of action, Beasley checked in off the bench for five minutes. He made all but one of his five shots from the field. All of his makes came from downtown. Beasley produced 12 points as the Pistons got off to a 37-26 lead over New York.

The next two quarters were quiet for the veteran sharpshooter. Coming out of the half, Beasley checked in for three minutes. He landed just one point during that time.

When Beasley collected another four minutes of action in the third quarter, he split free throws and missed both of his shots from the field. Once again, Beasley produced just one point.

At that point, Beasley claimed he had heard a lot of chirping from a fan seated near the court. After the game, the guard revealed he had words for that Knicks fan after getting the last laugh in the fourth quarter.

“Shoutout to the Knicks fan,” Beasley told The Athletic. “He said I hit four threes in the first quarter and hadn’t done **** since. I was like, ‘Watch this.’ Got the ball, hit the three, cussed him out, then I got the second one.”

Although the Pistons had a small cushion of a lead going into the fourth quarter, the Knicks didn’t make it comfortable in quarter four. It was a back-and-forth battle, with Detroit’s game getting threatened in nearly every possession.

Cade Cunningham led the way for Detroit by scoring 11 points in his final nine minutes on the court. However, Beasley’s nine points, which included two very timely threes, created a dagger sequence for the Knicks. Beasley had every right to gloat at The Garden.

The Pistons made it back home to Michigan with a 124-119 victory. Malik Beasley once again proved to be a fantastic offseason pickup, as he scored 22 points in 17 minutes.

Overall, Beasley has produced 17 points on 40 percent shooting from three in 40 games. While he gets the occasional start for Detroit, the 28-year-old veteran has been a star off the bench.

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(FOX 2) – It’s become apparent that three things are guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and astronomical Detroit Lions ticket prices.

Sticker shock may have set in at the end of the season as the Lions clinched the NFC North division in the last game of the season when they played the Minnesota Vikings, but that hasn’t stopped the price from climbing.

With Ford Field set to host the team’s first playoff game this weekend, fans are discovering the cheapest prices for the Lions-Commanders game are higher than tickets to three other playoff games combined.

By the numbers:

Of the four playoff games taking place this weekend, it is the Detroit vs. Washington matchup on Saturday night that will break the bank the most. Here are the lowest prices, according to Vividseats:

• Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs – $102
• Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions – $418
• Los Angeles Rams vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $201
• Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills – $123

It won’t come as a surprise that the cheapest tickets are ones on the upper deck near the endzones. For a spot closer to the field, prepare to shell out more than a thousand.

The cheapest seats aren’t the only way to gauge the cost of going to the game. 

On the social platform X, ESPN’s Field Yates cited TickPick, which tracks ticket prices, when he said the average price for a ticket to the Lions game is $991 – making it the most expensive non-Super Bowl NFL game ever.

StubHub, another ticket reseller, said the Commanders-Lions game was outselling the second-best-selling game between the Ravens and Bills by 188%.

Dig deeper:

The discovery of expensive tickets is a product of having a successful sports team. 

Some unsuspecting fans have gotten burned by scammers as a result. One fan lost $400 on Facebook after trying to purchase two tickets for himself and his son.

StubHub has some quick tips for anyone who does plan on buying tickets:

• Don’t pay cash
• Use a trusted service
• Don’t share ticket barcodes on social media

Additionally, buyers should be wary of anyone on social media selling tickets – especially accounts offering bargains on tickets that appear to be too good to be true.

“The game between the Commanders and Lions has all the makings of a high-demand matchup – a team that just won its first playoff game since 2006 competing against America’s favorite team. It’s the hottest ticket of the weekend by far, nearly tripling the sales of the other divisional round games,” said Adam Budelli, a spokesperson with StubHub.

Tim Slusser says the city of Detroit has an end goal for its electric vehicle charging infrastructure plans.

“In the future, you won’t be any farther than 3 to 5 miles from a charging station no matter where you are in the city of Detroit,” Slusser, the city’s chief of mobility innovation, told the Free Press on Tuesday.

A new federal grant award to the city and region should help.

On Friday, the city of Detroit and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments were awarded almost $15.2 million to boost EV charging in the region. This grant, along with a similar $23.4 million grant last year, are expected to help the city install more than 100 “high-speed” EV charging stations across 40 locations, according to the announcement Tuesday.

The latest grant to Detroit and the region were part of a wider announcement from the Federal Highway Administration for 49 projects nationwide funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Currently, Detroit has around 300 public and private charging stations, close to 30 of which are DC fast charging, which are “as close to the gas station experience as you can get,” Slusser said, noting that’s simply not enough.

Those locations include places like recreation centers and even Meijer stores, Slusser said.

“We really wanted to address some remaining gaps in our EV infrastructure strategy as well as to tie those assets into some other transportation modalities,” Slusser said, referencing locations where drivers can park and access scooters, bike share or other transit options.

More: GM partners with ChargePoint to expand ultrafast EV charging network

Outside the city, SMART bus park and ride and carpool lots will be areas of focus. The goal is to have higher speed chargers along major corridors and places where shorter charging times are important. Slower speed, Level 2 chargers that deliver approximately 25 miles of range per hour plugged in, would be located in areas where people might plan to leave their vehicle while they grab a bite to eat or see a show.

The intent is also to give a wide range of people access to EV charging, including those living in multifamily units, and to reduce vehicle emissions in the city.

More: Stellantis says it will provide EV charging units or $600 in credits for buyers

Mayor Mike Duggan, in a news release, said “electric vehicles are the future of the auto industry and Detroit is going to support that shift by making sure we have a network of safe, convenient and easy-to-find high-speed charging stations for people to use.”

Slusser said specific locations should be available soon. The release noted that installation of the first stations are expected to take place in the spring, with all chargers installed over the next few years. The effort is being marketed as the Detroit Charge Ahead: Clean Commute Program.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.