DETROIT — An eight-game winning streak didn’t just end Friday night. It was run out of the gym.

The Pistons reiterated their position atop the East with a 118-80 curb stomp of the short-handed Knicks, who were a disaster on offense while losing for the first time since Jan. 19.

Jalen Brunson lowlighted the evening while shooting just 4-for-20 with 12 points, appearing exhausted after carrying the Knicks in a double-overtime thriller two nights earlier.

Brunson was locked down by Ausar Thompson and sat the entire fourth quarter alongside his fellow starters, with coach Mike Brown waving the white flag earlier than ever.

“They kicked our behind, starting with me,” Brown said. “We all got our behind kicked. The Pistons are a good defensive team.”

Overall, the Knicks shot just 35.8 percent — including 24.2 percent on 3s — with James Dolan making the trip to Detroit and watching the ugliness before leaving his courtside seat for the fourth quarter.

It was the fewest points scored by the Knicks this season, by far. Their previous low was 90 points — also in Detroit.

“Obviously, I missed a lot of shots,” Brunson said. “We missed shots as a team, as well.”

The Pistons (38-13), who are now 5 ½ games ahead of the Knicks (33-19) for first in the East, were faster, stronger and more motivated — just like their last matchup about a month ago.

They clearly wanted to send another message after getting eliminated by New York in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

Message received.

Detroit didn’t even need a big night from star Cade Cunningham (11 points, 22 minutes) to dominate.

Brunson wouldn’t use the excuse of facing the exhaustion of carrying an eight-game winning streak and playing not long after Wednesday’s win over the Nuggets.

“It’s not an excuse for what happened today. [The Pistons] played last night. We had a day off. Obviously. we traveled. But there’s no excuse what happens prior to the game,” Brunson said. “You got to come here, you got to be professional, you got to do your job. But we just didn’t do our job well enough tonight.”

The Knicks, meanwhile, carried the posture of punting this game. Jose Alvarado, the new acquisition, didn’t join the team in Detroit. He’ll likely meet the Knicks in Boston for Sunday’s game.

Karl-Anthony Towns sat because of an eye laceration. OG Anunoby was a late scratch because of toe soreness. Josh Hart started but limped off the court in the third quarter and never returned.

The Knicks said it was a right ankle injury, with no further update.

So the Knicks started rookie Mohamed Diawara and Mitchell Robinson and their offense fell off a cliff. Of course, the Pistons — a team that applies physicality and athleticism at levels above the Knicks — had a lot to do with the struggles.

In two games against the Pistons, the Knicks have averaged 85 points, with their total margin of defeat at 69.

It’s a potentially ominous sign considering the Knicks and Pistons could meet in the playoffs, whether in the second round or conference finals. But Brown doesn’t view it that way.

“I don’t look at regular-season games as a barometer because, come playoffs, it’s a different basketball game,” he said. “Especially when you talk about a seven-game series. I’ve been with different teams that went to the finals or played deep in the playoffs that lost the season series to teams and still won in the playoffs.

“I look at it as it’s our next game. It’s very important. These guys handed our lunch to us last time. And so, we need to come fighting. Those are things I’m looking for tonight.

“I don’t look at it like if we win, hey, we’re going to get them come playoff time. Or if they win, they’re going to get us come playoff time.”

The Knicks can fall back on history if we ever get to another playoff series against the Pistons. They were swept in the regular season by the Celtics last year but toppled them in the second round.

So there’s indeed hope no matter what happens in the regular season. But there’s no question the Knicks have looked utterly overmatched by Detroit in two ugly games.

On Friday, they managed just 17 points in the first quarter and 42 after the second. They trailed by 21 at the break, which ended, appropriately, with Brunson getting rejected at the buzzer by Paul Reed.

For the Knicks, it was awful to that point and didn’t get better.

FOX 2 – This year a Sheetz may be coming to an area near you, with the chain boasting ambitious expansion plans for Southeast Michigan.

The Altoona, Pennsylvania-based company is planning to open 14 new restaurant and convenience store locations as part of a $500 million investment in the state for 2026.

Dig deeper:

Each store will employ at least 30 employees, which the company says will be mostly full-time, amounting to about 400 new jobs created.

New locations  include two in Taylor, with additional sites planned for Eastpointe, Ypsilanti, Warren, Novi, Fraser, Orion Township, Macomb, Shelby Township, Belleville and Royal Oak.

Some proposed Sheetz locations have faced community pushback in the past by some suburbs, citing traffic and noise concerns from the 24-hour gas station convenience stores, including one site in Farmington Hills which was shot down by elected officials.

Despite some Detroit-area resistance, the family-owned chain operates more than 800 locations throughout seven states.

New store openings are planned for:

• 19001 East 9 Mile Rd. Eastpointe, MI 48021
• 2103 West Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti, MI 48197
• 5970 12 Mile Rd., Warren, MI 48092
• 20623 Eureka Rd., Taylor, MI 48180
• 39471 West 12 Mile Rd., Novi, MI 48377
• 32981 Utica Rd., Fraser, MI 48026
• 4160 S. Lapeer Rd., Orion Township, MI 48359
• 8200 Telegraph Rd., Taylor, MI 48180
• 45075 North Gratiot Ave., Macomb, MI 48042
• 7828 22 Mile Rd., Shelby Twp, MI 48317
• 7840 Haggerty Rd., Belleville, MI 48111
• 2003 12 Mile Rd., Warren, MI 48092
• 3200 West 14 Mile Rd., Royal Oak, MI 48073
• 50980 North Ave., Macomb, MI 48042

“All new locations will feature Sheetz’s award-winning Made-to-Order menu, where customers can order any of Sheetz’s customized specialty drinks or food items around the clock, including breakfast all day, subs, sandwiches, pizza, chicken, salads, cold brew, milkshakes, smoothies and more,” the company said in a release.

Sheetz Public Affairs Manager Nick Ruffner said 2026 is a big year for Sheetz in Michigan.

“We can’t wait to become part of these communities, and we look forward to serving the specific needs of our neighbors in each of these areas,” he said. “Whether that’s satisfying late-night cravings, providing a quick fill-up, or offering a safe space to gather, we’re committed to creating places where both customers and employees feel welcomed.” 

An Ypsilanti man is facing a rare criminal charge after federal prosecutors said he beat a Michigan State Police K-9 so badly while trying to flee police that the male German shepherd suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The alleged assault is the latest blemish on the long rap sheet of 34-year-old Carlos Harris, whose criminal history is filled with arrests and convictions for assault, gun crimes, threats, carjacking and repeated acts of resisting, obstructing and assaulting police officers.

Federal court records describe how a fugitive apprehension team hunted Harris through the streets of Detroit before Kai, the German shepherd, caught him and bit into the man’s shoulder. Harris responded by striking the approximately four-year veteran of MSP, which has one of the largest K-9 units in the country with more than 60 dogs, twice in the head, according to the government.

Federal court records, statements from prosecutors and a defense lawyer described a frantic chase through the streets of Detroit, a beating and the surprise that prosecutors would file the rarely used charge in hopes of punishing a man whose lawyer said Harris was simply defending himself.

“I’ve been at the Federal (Community) Defender Office for 35 years, and I have never seen the government charge a person with harming a police animal — for fighting off the attack from the animal,” Harris’ court-appointed lawyer, Rhonda Brazile, said during a recent detention hearing. “Now, it’s a police animal. Granted. But … when a dog is attacking you, your instinctive human response is to fight. You don’t let the dog continue to bite you….”

Brazile did not respond to a message from The Detroit News seeking comment.

A national review of federal court cases showed two other cases involving assaults on K-9s in the last seven years. Only one ended in a prison sentence of more than three months.

In the Detroit case, U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Patti ordered Harris detained last month while the case is pending, citing the man’s history of violence, attempts to evade law enforcement and dangerousness.

In detaining Harris, the judge reflected on the unique nature of the case.

“I’ve been here 11 years,” Patti told the defense lawyer, “and I’ve not seen this charge before. But I want to ask you this: Wasn’t he already fleeing from the fugitive task force when the dog was deployed?”

“Mr. Harris had not been apprehended. … He was trying to make his escape from the fugitive task force,” Brazile said.

“OK, so that’s why I have a lot less sympathy for the fact that the dog then went after him,” the judge said.

If convicted of harming a law-enforcement animal, Harris faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A jury trial is set for March 24 in front of U.S. District Judge Linda Parker.

Such penalties are rare.

In June, 70-year-old Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie was sentenced to probation and deported after investigators said he kicked a 5-year-old beagle, Freddy, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol K-9, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, after arriving on an EgyptAir flight.

Freddy had discovered 55 pounds of beef, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds and a pound of herbs ― all smuggled illegally into the U.S. — in the man’s luggage.

And in 2019, Mexican national Jose Roberto Guapo-Alvarez was sentenced to 100 days after being accused of trying to sneak into the U.S. and kicking Roki, a U.S. Border Patrol K-9, in the head near San Ysidro, California.

In the case of Harris, the Ypsilanti man is dangerous and a flight risk, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan Ho wrote in a detention memorandum.

“His conduct is consistent with his history of violence, flight, and repeated noncompliance with court supervision and conditions of release,” Ho wrote.

The police chase happened June 13, when members of the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team tracked Harris to a home in Detroit to execute arrest warrants for violating probation.

“Upon realizing that law enforcement was present to arrest him, Harris fled by jumping out of a window, running out the rear of the residence, scaling a fence, and entering the street,” Ho wrote.

That is when Kai started pursuing Harris. After catching Harris, the dog bit him on the left shoulder.

“Harris responded by swinging his arm and striking Kai in the head,” the prosecutor wrote. “When Kai attempted to reengage, Harris struck him a second time, causing Kai to yelp and disengage.”

Officers intervened and detained Harris.

“After being detained, Harris began exhibiting signs consistent with a drug overdose, which he later admitted was the result of ingesting narcotics, and he was transported to a hospital for evaluation,” Ho wrote.

The attack left Kai suffering from a small laceration near its right eye.

“Following the encounter, Kai became lethargic, held his head down, and repeatedly shook his head. He later began dry heaving and appeared abnormally subdued,” Ho wrote.

A veterinary examination revealed abnormal neurological findings, she added.

“The veterinarian diagnosed Kai with a traumatic brain injury consistent with blunt-force trauma,” Ho wrote.

On Thursday, Harris’ lawyer requested additional records to evaluate the traumatic brain injury diagnosis and the veterinarian’s qualifications. Those records include Kai’s service and complete veterinary records, as well as body-worn camera footage from Kai’s handler and responding task force members that might show Kai’s behavior and demeanor before, during and after the incident.

Kai’s handler is Trooper Joshua Olszewski, and the duo works out of the state police district headquarters in Wayne County. When off duty, Kai lives with Olszewski.

“They form a real bond with their handler,” Michigan State Police First Lt. Mike Shaw told The Detroit News. “And also with the handler’s family, so we take it personal when people assault not only members of the MSP but our K-9s.”

Kai underwent treatment after the incident, recovered and returned to duty, Shaw said.

“He’s working so, fortunately, he made a full recovery,” Shaw said. “He’s doing well. Naturally, these K-9s are very important for us. They do a lot of things humans can’t do in detecting odors and going into places we can’t go. We are very grateful.”

The alleged K-9 attack marked a persistent and escalating pattern of violence and crime by Harris, according to the prosecutor.

Patti, the judge, was concerned about the risk of releasing Harris on bond given his history and failure to comply with court orders.

“I don’t really intend to send the (U.S.) Marshals (Service) out every time he needs to go to court,” Patti said. “And given his history, which appears to be that he never shows up for court, ever, I mean, it’s just every single time he’s been in trouble with the law, there’s a non-appearance. Every one. Pretty much. I mean, I may be off by one or two. But it’s a lot.”

Brazile responded: “And that’s in his past.”

rsnell@detroitnews.com