Knicks Eye Payback in Detroit: A Statement Game with Playoff Implications
Friday night in Detroit isn’t just another February matchup for the New York Knicks - it’s personal. The last time these two teams met, the Pistons walked into Madison Square Garden and handed the Knicks a 120-91 beatdown that still stings. That loss wasn’t just ugly - it was a wake-up call.
The Knicks were flat from the jump in that game, overwhelmed by Detroit’s physical defense and out of rhythm offensively. Twenty turnovers told part of the story.
Getting crushed on the boards 43-30 told the rest. New York couldn’t find a spark anywhere - Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson combined for just 13 points.
Towns, a perennial All-Star, grabbed just one rebound in 23 minutes. That’s not a typo.
One.
Sure, Josh Hart and Landry Shamet were both sidelined with injuries, and their absence mattered. But even so, the effort just wasn’t there - and it came during a brutal 2-9 stretch that tested the team’s resolve.
That game, by the way, had its own revenge subplot. The Knicks had knocked Detroit out of the playoffs last spring in a wild six-game series.
Game 6 was a heartbreaker for the Pistons - they blew a late lead after clawing back into it, only to see Jalen Brunson bury a cold-blooded three with five seconds left to end their season. So when Detroit came to the Garden last month, they were locked in.
Now the Knicks get their turn.
This time, it’s New York walking into Little Caesars Arena with something to prove. And while the Pistons have clearly turned a corner under J.B. Bickerstaff - this is easily their best squad in two decades - they’re not without flaws.
For starters, Detroit’s perimeter shooting has been shaky all year. They’re hitting just 34.8% from deep, which ranks 22nd in the league.
The Knicks, by contrast, are third at 38%, and with Shamet healthy again, that gap could grow. The Pistons also cough the ball up 14.5 times per game - seventh worst in the NBA - even though they do make up for it by forcing the most turnovers on defense.
And while Detroit’s 27-9 record looks impressive on paper, the context matters. A 13-game win streak early in the season gave them a cushion, but more than half of those wins came against teams currently stuck near the bottom of the standings - including two against an Indiana squad that has nosedived since last year’s Finals run.
The Knicks, meanwhile, are getting healthy at the right time. Josh Hart is back, bringing his trademark hustle and ability to flirt with a triple-double on any given night.
Shamet adds spacing and shooting. Towns, after a forgettable showing in the last matchup, is due for a bounce-back.
And if newly acquired guard Jose Alvarado suits up, he brings instant energy and defensive grit off the bench.
This game might not carry the weight of a playoff series, but don’t tell that to the Knicks. They’ve been knocking on the Finals door for two years now, and any path to the East crown likely runs through Detroit. A potential Eastern Conference Finals rematch between these two would be steeped in history - a throwback to the bruising battles between the Ewing-Oakley Knicks and the Bad Boy Pistons of the late '80s and early '90s.
But for any of that to matter, the Knicks have to handle business Friday. They’re just 4.5 games back of the top seed, with both Detroit and Boston within reach. Head coach Mike Brown has finally settled into a deeper, more versatile rotation, and the team is starting to click again.
This is about more than avenging a bad loss. It’s about reminding the Pistons - and the rest of the league - that New York is still very much in the mix.
The Knicks don’t need to talk about revenge. They just need to show up and play like it.