NBA Matchups: May 1

NYK @ DET | DEN @ LAC

New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons

Team Totals: Knicks 105.5, Pistons 107

Injury Report: Isaiah Stewart (Q, knee)

Pistons projected starters: Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr., Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Bickerstaff quotes: Said he’s not surprised they pulled out a win because that’s their personality, said “it all started with Ausar” and “a lot of credit should be given to [Ausar]” for the win, said there are not many people that want to get a stop as much as Ausar does, said this series is not about officiating and it’s about two competitive teams, said “I have run out of adjectives on [Tobias Harris]” with his play lately, said Ausar is reading the game the proper way.

Thibs quotes: Said they didn’t want to burn a timeout to get Brunson and Hart in there, said “it is what it is” on the officiating, said it was a “coach’s decision” not to call a timeout there, said they have to reset for Game 6 and be ready for the challenge, said Mitch gave them a big lift with rebounding.

Stats and Notes:

*The Pistons finally didn’t blow this one, as they were able to play the Knicks even in the fourth. The Pistons took care of the ball and had their highest AST% in a game during this series. On the downside, the Pistons did not have a big rebounding edge for the first time this series at basically 50/50, and this game was basically a dead heat in all the grinding categories (52-48 Knicks points in the paint, 19-18 Knicks second-chance points, 14-13 Knicks fast-break points). The Pistons did have excellent rim defense to keep the Knicks to just 56.8% at the basket, and that’s been a trend all series with the Knicks at just 54.2% at the rim (reference points: Raps were dead last during the year at 62.1%). Additionally, the Knicks are getting 26.5% of their shots off with 0-7 seconds left on the shot clock (19.2% for the Pistons). The Pistons also aren’t shooting it great and this series has just turned into a slugfest, and these two teams are at the bottom for AST% in the first round.

*The Pistons finally solved the Jalen Brunson problem and it all starts with Ausar Thompson. Brunson shot just 2-of-7 on his 19 drives and he could not get to his spots. Brunson also tweaked his ankle down the stretch and couldn’t come back in right away (I’m sure you heard about Thibs not calling his last timeout). Brunson had his lowest usage rate of the series, and his 4Q usage rate almost dropped 20 percentage points while his TS% was cut in half during the fourth. I wouldn’t put too much stock into Game 5, but Ausar guarding him more does make the matchup tougher.