WWE Superstar Danhausen had a message for both sides as the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons got underway on Tuesday night.
The “Very Nice, Very Evil” Superstar, who was part of the Knicks' championship run, posted, “Do good Knicks,” on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after tipoff. Roughly 20 minutes later, after watching a pregame video of the Pistons getting hyped, he made sure Detroit got its share of encouragement too: “Do good Pistons too everyone have fun.”
The tone may have been playful, but the result mattered to New York. The Knicks snapped out of a rough start to the 2026-27 season and picked up their first win on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, beating the Pistons for a 1-3 start turnaround. Detroit came in undefeated, while the defending champions were still searching for their first victory.
The game opened with a jolt from the Pistons, who poured in 38 points in the first quarter. New York tightened things up after that, limiting Detroit to 25 points combined over the next two quarters.
The Pistons pushed back in the fourth, but the Knicks answered and held on for a 14-point win.
Both teams are back in action the following night. New York heads to the Chicago Bulls, and Detroit returns home to face the Charlotte Hornets.
Danhausen's connection to the Knicks has already taken on a strange little life of its own. He lifted his “curse” of the Knicks in the playoffs, and from there they rolled to a 13-game winning streak that lasted until Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Along the way, they swept the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers to reach the Finals.
That made him part of the team's playoff story, though he did not get a championship ring like the players and coaches did on Opening Night.
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Smiths limited minutes were marred by fouls and turnovers, the kind of shaky stretch that makes depth chart decisions suddenly feel urgent. If Durens absence lingers at all, Detroit may need to take a hard look at its third-big man spot, because the current alternatives do not give the Pistons much comfort when the center rotation gets squeezed. [Read more 🡒]
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Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson ran into a defense that was clearly prepared to make every possession uncomfortable, while Detroit also had to navigate the night without two key players. For a team trying to build on an early surge, the loss was less about one bad shooting night than a broader reminder that the offense still has to prove it can create clean looks when the easy ones disappear. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Face A Tough Charlotte Battle They Can't Lose On The Glass
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For the Pistons, the margin for error is thin because Charlotte has already shown it can survive and thrive through offensive rebounding. Detroit will need a sharper collective effort on the boards and a steadier defensive presence to keep the Hornets from turning second chances into the kind of points that can swing a game built on attrition. [Read more 🡒]
