Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 100-94 Game 2 loss to the Pistons on Monday:
Hero
After a rough Game 1 in which he shot 8 of 21 from the field, Cade Cunningham bounced back with a huge Game 2 to carry the Pistons’ scoring load.
He got into the paint at will and finished with 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting.
Zero
OG Anunoby was magnificent on both ends of the floor in Game 1, but struggled on both in Game 2.
He finished with just 10 points, missed all four of his 3-point attempts and could not contain Cunningham the same way he did in Game 1.
Unsung hero
Dennis Schröder finished with 20 points and hit key shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with 55.1 seconds left in the game to give the Pistons a three-point lead after the Knicks had tied it.
Key stat
28: Number of free throws the Pistons made on 34 attempts, while the Knicks attempted a total of 19 — many of which came late — and made 16.
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Quote
“Obviously, huge discrepancy in free throws. Huge. I gotta take a look at that. I don’t understand how on one side, you talk about direct line drives, [Brunson] is getting fouled, it’s not being called. I really don’t give a crap how they call the game, as long as it’s consistent on both sides. If [Cade] Cunningham is driving and there’s marginal contact and he’s getting to the line, then Jalen deserves to be getting to the line. It’s really that simple.”
— Tom Thibodeau on officiating
