NEW YORK – Since 2003, 95% of the teams that led 3-1 in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win, but that stat will not improve as the Detroit Pistons staved off elimination by beating the New York Knicks 106-103 in Game 5.
The Pistons are heading back to Little Caesars Arena for Game 6 thanks to Ausar Thompson, who had 22 points in the game. He had seven rebounds while shooting 6/12 from the free-throw line and 8/10 from the field.
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Cade Cunningham put his cape back on as he finished with 24 points and seven rebounds.
Tobias Harris shined as well, adding 17 points, Dennis Schröder 14, and Malik Beasley 10 in the victory as the Pistons trail 3-2 in the series.
1st quarter
The Pistons forced a shot-clock violation on Josh Hart and his Knicks on their first possession.
Hart picked up his first foul of the game on Thompson, who got the Pistons on the board as he knocked down both free throws to take a 2-0 lead.
Jalen Duren cleaned the glass after a Thompson miss as he slammed it home to take a 4-0 lead.
Hart came back aggressive down the floor and got the Knicks on the board with a contested layup.
Tim Hardaway Jr. got a turnover on Jalen Brunson, which was their second of the game.
Thompson put in a soft slam after getting hit with a dime during Duren’s cut to the hoop.
Harris followed with a corner three-pointer to put the Pistons up 9-2 with 8:00 to play.
Brunson, sensing his team needed a bucket, drew a foul on Duren, splitting at the charity stripe.
Karl-Anthony finally got on the board with a tough cut and dunk, but Cunningham followed with a tough jumper to take an 11-5 lead.
OG Anunoby knocked down a 12-foot jumper to cut the deficit to 11-7 before taking a timeout with 6:56 to play.
Brunson hacked Duren while driving to the rim, splitting the pair and giving Duren a 12-7 lead.
Hart made another turnover halfway through the first quarter when Duren inadvertently picked up his second foul after missing a bunny at the rim.
Paul Reed entered the game and got a technical foul, but Brunson missed the free throw.
Brunson drove to the rim and found Hart for a corner three, followed by a Miles McBride jumper as the Knicks came back to tie the score at 12-12.
Anunoby gave the Knicks their first lead of the game after he made a contested layup.
The lead didn’t last long as Beasley knocked down his first three-pointer of the game.
Ron Holland II got sent to the free-throw line after Reed made a hustle play leading to the foul.
Holland II made both free-throws followed by another Beasley three-pointer.
After the make, Hart flew down the court for a speedy layup. He then drew a tick-tack foul on Cunningham, leading to him sitting on the bench as he picked up his second foul of the quarter.
Mitchell Robinson drew a foul on Schröder, splitting the pair.
After Reed collected a turnover, Robinson made a tip shot to cut the deficit to one.
Hart got another hustle play bucket for the Knicks before Schröder knocked down a jumper.
Holland II bumped Brunson who flopped with 4.2 seconds remaining in the quarter, leading to free-throws to take a 23-22 lead to end the quarter.
Neither team shot the ball well. The Knicks made 9/24 from the field, while Detroit made 7/24, but they shot 3-10 from beyond the arc, while New York went 1/6.
The Pistons won the turnover battle 7-6, but Hart was a menace as he picked up fouls and forced turnovers for Detroit, as he led both teams with nine points to end the first quarter.
2nd quarter
Towns started the second quarter with a loose-ball foul on Harris, leading to a Cameron Payne foul on Holland II.
Reed turned the ball over, leading to a Payne jumper. Holland II joined the turnover party after running Payne over, leading to a sub.
Robinson got a put-back jam to take a 27-22 lead as Harris got hurt after taking a shot to the face by Duren.
Duren inadvertently took a rake to the face by friendly fire but was able to return to the bench after lying on his back for nearly a minute.
The Knicks opened the quarter on a 4-0 run prior to the timeout, taking a 27-22 lead with 9:50 to play.
Dating back to the first quarter, the Knicks went on a 13-2 run but Harris knocked down a three pointer to cut the deficit to two.
He tied the game at 27 with a jumper while Schröder made a tough left-handed layup.
Robinson got another put-back jam to retake a two point before Harris made another bucket to tie the game at 31-31.
After trailing by five points, Harris scored seven points while Schröder chipped in with a bucket to help the Pistons come back prior to a Knicks timeout with 7:04 to play.
Harris had 10 points, leading everybody in the tied ball game.
Harris got his fourth rebound of the game, leading to a Hardaway Jr. dive to Thompson for an easy slam at the rim for their first fast break points of the game.
Harris got a block on the other end, leading to a Hardaway Jr. fast break and-one after an assists from Cunningham.
Anunoby made a driving layup to cut into the lead, but Duren hit Thompson under the rim to take a 38-33 lead.
Thompson got another jam after Anunoby made a contested layup.
Anunoby hit a corner three-pointer to cut the deficit to 40-38 but Hart got called for his second foul as Thompson missed both free-throws with 3:23 to play.
Cunningham picked up his third foul as Brunson flopped while driving to the rim.
Towns tied the game with a bucket. He got fouled and started chirping after making the free throw to take a 41-40 lead.
With three fouls, Cunningham made a contested layup, but Towns hit a wide-open three-pointer.
Trailing 44-42, Schröder drove to the rim for an easy bunny, then he knocked down a wide-open three-pointer for his fifth consecutive point.
Harris got called for a foul on Towns who split the pair leading to a Thompson rebound.
Thompson drew a foul over two defenders but missed both free throws again.
The Knicks went down and scored on a Brunson step-back to tie the game at 47-47.
Thompson got a chase down block but Towns converted the rebound with another put-back to take a two point lead with 30.6 to play in the half.
Brunson flopped again and drew another foul on Reed, splitting the pair, but a loose-ball foul was called on Robinson.
Sending Hardaway Jr. to the line, knocking down both to cut the deficit to 50-49 at the half.
Although they trailed by one point, the Pistons got key contributions from Harris and Thompson, who each scored 10 points, while Schröder added nine off the bench and Beasley added six.
Brunson finished the half shooting 1/7 while Cunningham shot 2/8 to end the first half.
3rd quarter
The Pistons opened the half forcing the Knciks to commit a shot-clock violation.
But Cunningham stepped out of bounds on their first possession of the second half before Brunson flopped again, drawing another foul on Thompson.
Thompson caught an alley-oop to regain the lead but Anunoby drained a three pointer.
Thompson drew a fourth foul on Hart on an offensive rebound, followed by a Hardaway Jr. three-pointer to take a 54-53 lead.
Anunoby fouled Hardaway Jr. before Cunningham drew an and-one on Towns to take a 57-53 lead.
The foul was Towns’s third of the game. Cunningham, who had three fouls, tied up Anunoby, stripped the ball away, and drew another foul on Anunoby.
On their next offensive possession, Thompson got another assist from Duren on an uncontested dunk, leading to a Knicks timeout as Detroit took a 59-53 lead with 9:09 to play.
The Pistons went on a 10-3 run prior to the timeout by the Knicks, who opened the half with a lack of urgency.
Thompson had 14 points up to that point in the game. Hart made a lay-up over Duren, who didn’t want to pick up his fourth foul.
Cunningham got fouled by Anunoby from behind as he drove to the basket, splitting the pair as the Pistons led 60-55.
Brunson got an easy bunny at the rim to cut the deficit to three with 7:03 to play.
After some sloppy offense, Cunningham knocked down a technical foul free throw after Brunson didn’t like a call on Cunningham.
Duren then got a tough rebound followed by a kickout to Harris, who made a driving layup after body-to-body contact against Towns.
Out of a timeout, Harris knocked down a three-pointer to take a 66-57 lead, which was their largest of the game at that point.
Brunson drew another foul with on Thompson, making both to cut into the Pistons’ lead, but Thompson made another alley-oop dunk.
Thompson got fouled and sent to the free-throw line, where he missed for a fifth straight time. He made the second one for his 17th point of the game.
Brunson drew another foul on Thompson, leading to a Hart bunny. Be Thompson attacked Robinson at the rim, making both free throws for his 19th point of the game as the Pistons took a 10-point lead with 4:12 to play.
As Thompson exited the game, Brunson made a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Duren fouled Robinson, picking up his fourth foul of the game. He split the pair to cut the 71-65.
Anunoby cut to the basket for a contested floater. Detroit played hack-a-Robinson, who split the pair as the Pistons’ lead dwindled to three with 2:34 to play.
Hart made a jumper to cut the once 10-point lead to one while going on a 9-0 run, which amazed the crowd.
Beasley got a fast break layup, followed by a Robinson alley-oop. Beasley made a floater to take a 75-72 lead with 50 seconds to play.
Cunningham stole the ball from Brunson, leading to a foul as he drove to the rack. He got hammered by McBride, knocking down both to take a five-point lead with 22.2 to play in the quarter.
Mikal Bridges made a contested jumper over Cunningham to end the quarter, trailing Detroit 77-74.
The Pistons have held a lead through three quarters in all five games, but they trailed the Knicks 3-1 in the series.
4th quarter
Detroit opened the quarter with a brick by Cunnigham leading to a McBride blur to the rim to cut the deficit to one.
Schröder knocked down a floater before Towns drew a foul on Harris, but the Pistons challenged the play as he elbowed Harris in the face on the play.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff wasted another challenge, which was deemed an offensive foul. He then shot a technical free throw, along with the other free throws, to tie the game at 79-79.
A once three-point lead vanished on that play. Bridges knocked down a long-range two-pointer to take a two-point lead.
Schröder answered with a contested layup to tie the game. Harris drew a foul on Towns, who knocked down both to regain the lead.
Bridges’s two-pointer was changed to a three, and the Pistons’ lead was 83-82 with 8:14 to play.
Bridges drew a foul on Hardaway Jr. but missed the first as Cunningham entered the game.
Bridges made the second to tie the game at 83-83 before Duren made an alley-oop to take a two-point lead before Roinson fouled him in the air as his hip hit the floor.
Duren walked off the foul but missed the free-throw for the and-one attempt.
Bridges knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 85-85 before Cunningham drew a fifth foul on Towns, making both to retake a two-point lead.
Bridges turned the ball over and Cunnigham got called for an offensive foul before Brunson made a three-point play after flopping once again.
The play was an and-one, and it was Thompson’s fourth foul of the game. With 6:34 to play, the Knicks took an 88-87 lead.
Thompson after getting a hustle play drew a fould on Robinson who got his fifth foul of the game.
Thompson split the pair to tie the game at 88-88 before Cunningham broke the tie with a coast-to-coast layup.
Robinson got an offensive rebound and a put-back following a Hardaway Jr. foul, but he missed the free throw.
Robinson had 13 points and 11 rebounds at this point in the game before Cunningham drew a foul on Brunson.
Cunningham made the first free throw, but the Knicks called a timeout with 5:01 to play.
Motor Cade made the second free throw after the timeout to take a 92-90 lead.
Cunningham knocked down a three-pointer after a defensive rebound by Duren to take a five-point lead as the Knicks took another timeout with 4:16 to play.
The long-range three pointer was his first of the game and it came at winning time as the Pistons led 95-90.
Bridges made a contested bunny followed by a Towns three-pointer, but Duren made a bunny himself, followed by another timeout as Hart got hurt on the play.
Duren got a defensive rebound, an offensive rebound, and another easy bucket.
Cunningham made a floater to put the Pistons up six with 1:25 to play in the fourth quarter.
Bridges makes a tough shot, but Cunningham dimed up Thompson under the basket to take a 103-97 lead with 27.4 to play.
Bridges makes a clutch three-pointer to cut the deficit to 103-100 with 25.3 seconds to play.
After an officials’ review, sloppy play nearly doomed the Pistons, but they regained the ball as Anunoby fouled Schröder, who split the pair.
With the clock running down, Anunoby hit a contested three-pointer with 5.7 to play as the Pistons led 105-104.
Neither team had any timeouts remaining in the game as Detroit called its last timeout of the game.
Schröder inbounded the ball to Cunningham, who went to the line with 5.4 to play and made both to take a three-point lead.
The Pistons fouled McBride with 2.6 seconds left. Feeling the pressure, he missed the first one and intentionally missed the second and the game ended.