New York – JB Bickerstaff's message to his team heading to a game 5 to do or die was simple.
“We have overcome a ton of odds, right?” He said before the match. “So why not once again?”
The pistons answered his call, shredding a damaged, physical Tuesday evening, often SPPY at Madison Square Garden to extend the first round series with a 106-103 Victory.
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Match 5 was a slugfest in a telephone booth: eight links, 14 modifications in mind, 21 missed francs combined, 51 Personal faults, neither of the two teams can earn more than 10 separation points. Again, the competition was decided in the time of crisis; This time, however, it was the pistons who prevailed in the clutch, with the star of Detroit Cade Cunningham (24 points on shooting 6 for 17, eight rebounds, eight assists, two interceptions and a block in 37 minutes) to eliminate a pair of free throws with five remaining seconds to avoid elimination.
Ausar Thompson (left) and Cade Cunningham High-Five during the second half of match 5 at Madison Square Garden Tuesday in New York. (Photo of Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
(Sarah Stier via Getty Images)
The counterpart of Cunningham, the star of the Knicks, Jalen Brunson, turned his less effective release from the playoffs, marking 16 points on a shot 4 for 16 with seven assists and three rebounds in 36 minutes. The newly hit clutch player of the NBA did not score a point in the last five minutes, spending a game on the sidelines after seeing his right ankle with a little more than three minutes to play. Brunson and Josh Hart, who had returned to the locker room after a hard fall after an outdoor collision with Cunningham, The two found themselves stuck at the marker's table for 2 1/2 minutes without a stop in game – or head coach Tom Thibodeau calling for his latest dead time.
Styles make rock fights
The pistons were the attackers outside the door, heading for an advance of 9-2 while the Knicks – who committed a violation of the earth during their very first possession – seemed a slow step to enter their offense early. New York started to straighten up, with Karl-Anthony Towns and Hart giving a game for a Dunk Kat Fort who sent a charge by the Madison Square garden:
None of the two teams could buy a bucket for most of the first quarter, combining only 16 out of 48 on the field and 4 out of 16 to 3 points. Some transition baskets and a pair of Brunson's free throws in the last seconds of the neighborhood gave New York an advantage of 23-22 after 12 minutes.
The physical and filthy battle continued, with the Knicks Mitchell Robinson rescue center dominating on the boards up to nine rebounds, seven offensives, in 12 minutes of time in the first half. The fight on the glass resulted in a friendly fire for the pistons, with Jalen Duren inadvertently striking his teammate Tobias Harris under the basket, sending the veteran to the ground in pain:
Harris would have a hurry, marking seven fast points and making some solid defensive games – one of which was actually one Unconcited goal tentBut hey, Detroit was due – to help fuel a race in the middle of the quarter that has given Detroit above a Knicks team which has trouble creating clean looks or making them disputed.
However, New York continued to grind. With Brunson at a start without season-only 1 for 6 of the ground and 4-7 of the frank launcher line in the first half-Og Anunoby and Towns combined for 22 points in first half while Hart collected four assists, helping the Knicks to an advance of 50-49 at the Entective.
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The two teams fought against pregnancy problems throughout the first half, the officials brandishing a whistle stronger than they had done earlier in the series. The hard of the pistons picked up three personalities, and with the rescue center, Isaiah Stewart, again sidelined by the inflammation of the knee and the third Big Paul Reed already pressed in the duty, Bickerstaff had to go against his preferences and play the little news? This also opened the boards of New York, which experienced 12 offensive rebounds in half-time.
The good news? This allowed us to see the edge of the edge, which he did with extreme prejudices:
Full gift
Cunningham came out of the locker room by trying to put his mark on the match at the start of the third quarter. The stars leader pushed the ball in transition and launched a lob for a Dunk by Thompson Alley-Oop, torn the ball from Anunoby's hands on a journey to the basket and started to decide New York in the pick-And-Roll, leaving the ball when the Knicks hit it and doing harden efficiency.
The result: a 20-9 race to give the pistons a two-digit lead on a team of knicks frustrated both by the defense on the point of Strait and what they It was clear that it was an inconsistent whistle for stretching. A late wave would bring New York back into the three, to 77-74, entering the final setting.
The teams exchanged the advance at the beginning of the fourth, leaving them where they were so often in this series: in a case of possession in times of crisis. Cunningham, Duren, Thompson and the rest of the pistons made just enough games to resist the end of the 3 by Bridges and Anunoby to keep their Remarkable revolutionary season Go and send this seven best series to Detroit for match 6 Thursday.
