DETROIT — Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Mikal Bridges had 25 points and OG Anunoby added 22 to lead the New York Knicks to a 116-113 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night and into the second round of the NBA playoffs.
The third-seeded Knicks will face second-seeded Boston, shooting to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000.
The sixth-seeded Pistons had an unprecedented turnaround during the regular season and ended the NBA’s longest playoff losing streak in their first postseason appearance since 2019 but broke another league mark with a 10th straight setback at home dating to 2008.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Cunningham was 0 for 8 on 3-pointers, and his backcourt mate Tim Hardaway Jr. was 1 of 6 beyond the arc and scored seven points.
