Morning After: Knicks 111, Pistons 97 as Cat Goes 27 and 20 and the Champs Finally Win

Finally. The Knicks beat the previously unbeaten Pistons 111-97 at the Garden on Tuesday night, the champs are off the schneid at 1-3, and there's no time to celebrate because we're in Chicago tonight (Wednesday, 7 p.m. CT at the United Center). Karl-Anthony Towns put up 27 and 20, the third quarter looked like last spring, and for the first time this season I went to bed happy.

Let's not pretend the stakes were small. Per the AP, this was the Knicks' first win since Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and a loss would have made them only the second defending champion in NBA history to start 0-4. Against Detroit, of all teams. The Pistons beat us 121-90, 118-80 and 126-111 last season and had won the last six regular-season meetings, the AP noted. That's not a rivalry, that's a problem. Tuesday was the first step toward fixing it.

Watch the highlights, courtesy of the NBA's official YouTube channel:

The first quarter had me yelling at the TV

For 12 minutes it was more of the same. Detroit scored 38 in the first quarter and shot 14-of-23 doing it, per the NBA's official scorer's report, and Paul Reed, starting for the injured Jalen Duren, had 13 of those by himself. The Pistons won the paint 16-8 in that quarter and pushed the lead to 13. Detroit was also without Isaiah Joe, per the scorer's report, so this was not the Pistons at full strength, and we still looked a step slow.

Then the second quarter happened. The Knicks won it 26-12, Landry Shamet gave us real juice off the bench, and Jalen Brunson went to the line with 2.4 seconds left and made it 51-50 at the half. Brunson was 1-for-9 from the field in the first half, per the AP, and we still led. That's what getting to the line does for you.

Cat answered the bell

The third quarter is the one I'm going to rewatch. The Knicks opened it on an 11-0 run, with Brunson hitting his first three shots and Mikal Bridges dropping a three, to go up 62-50, per the AP. Towns scored 13 in the quarter, according to the New York Post, including seven straight points and a three off a Brunson feed that is exactly why I love Cat at the five. Spread the floor, let him pick his spot, and nobody on their side wants that matchup. The Knicks closed the quarter on a 12-2 surge capped by Josh Hart's three at the buzzer for an 88-63 lead. A 37-13 quarter. Across the two middle quarters it was 63-25, per the NBA.com box score.

What I loved most is that Towns took it personally. Reed had 15 points and five rebounds at halftime, per the Post, and was winning that matchup. Mike Brown called it out. "I challenged KAT and KAT had a tremendous second half," Brown said, per the Post. Towns had 19 points and 11 rebounds after the break, Reed picked up a flagrant-1 for an elbow to Towns' head in the third, and by then the big man had already won the night. Final line per the NBA.com box score: 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting, 20 rebounds and eight on the offensive glass. SNY counted it as his fourth straight double-double.

Brunson's night won't make a highlight package, but I'll take it. He finished with 23 points and seven assists on 5-of-18 shooting, 0-for-5 from deep, and 13-of-16 at the line, per the box score. He came in shooting 39% for the season, the AP noted, so the shot still isn't all the way back. But he kept attacking and kept getting fouled, and that's the version of Brunson that wins regular-season games while the jumper sorts itself out.

The wings did their job, and so did the big guys

Bridges made his first four threes of the season, per the AP, and finished 4-of-8 from deep for 12. OG Anunoby added 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. That's the pairing I want on the wings every night, and Tuesday showed why: length on the perimeter, Detroit shooting 9-of-37 from three (24%), and the Pistons' guards never comfortable. Hart was everywhere too, with five steals, both of his shots going in (two threes), and a team-best plus-19.

This is also the balance I keep talking about. Detroit actually won the paint 48-44, per the scorer's report, but the Knicks hit 12 threes to the Pistons' nine, went 23-of-28 at the line to Detroit's 14-of-24, and scored 25 second-chance points to Detroit's 17 behind 19 offensive rebounds. Andre Drummond, against his first NBA team, gave us 10 points and eight boards in 14 minutes. Size on the glass mattered, and we had it.

Now the gripe, because I can't help myself. Eighteen turnovers, leading to 23 Detroit points, per the box score. Towns had seven of them himself, including back-to-back bad passes in the fourth that forced a timeout, per SNY. The Pistons won the fourth 34-23 and got the lead down to 13 before the starters sat with 1:13 left. Against a better team that's how a 27-point lead gets uncomfortable fast.

Still, it's a win, it came against the team that owned us last season, and it looked like the Knicks we know. If you missed it, here's our Game Day Preview for this one: https://knicks365.com/blog/knicks-pistons-game-day-preview-2026-10-27. Back-to-back tonight in Chicago. Let's make it two.