With the regular season officially complete, it is time to talk about playoff basketball. The No. 3 seed New York Knicks matchup against the No. 6 seed Detroit Pistons in what will be a very interesting series, featuring a young, gritty team facing off against a more experienced playoff team. FanDuel has New York at 79% odds to win the series.
Going into this season, nobody expected Detroit to have a playoff-caliber year. The Pistons finished last year with a league-worst record of 14-68. They began the season with a 2-29 start while losing 28-straight games during that stretch. This season was the complete opposite for the Motor City, winning 44 games—their most since 2015-2016.
With key additions such as Dennis Schroder and Tim Hardaway Jr., Detroit wanted these veterans to develop their young core. However, their best offseason acquisition was Malik Beasley. Detroit hit a grand slam, picking up a lethal shooter to feed off of Cade Cunningham. The 28-year-old is playing in his ninth NBA season and is arguably having the best season of his career. Playing in all 82 games for the first time in his career, Beasley finished 2nd behind Anthony Edwards in three-pointers made while hitting nearly 42% from beyond the arc.
The Pistons are not out of the woods just yet. Detroit has a playoff losing streak dating back to 2008, losing 14 straight postseason games, making it the longest drought in the league. Many fans believe this will be the year they can snap the streak.
The Pistons are highlighted by a young group of growing stars in Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson. The 23-year-old Cunningham averaged 26 points and 9 assists this season, making him a candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft has been the Knicks’ kryptonite this season. After the Knicks had a 15-game winning streak over Detroit, Cunningham and his Pistons took three out of four games against New York this season. In those games, he averaged 31 points and eight assists, including a triple-double at Madison Square Garden.
If the Knicks want to move on, Tom Thibodeau must throw the kitchen sink at Cade Cunningham. OG Anunoby should be Cunningham’s primary defender for the entire series. New York knows that Cunningham tends to elevate his game against them. For the Knicks, the game plan is simple: Don’t let Cunningham be the one who beats you. If they can contain him, Detroit must rely on Malik Beasley to carry the scoring load from deep. But throughout a seven-game series, there’s no guarantee Beasley can stay hot the entire time.
For New York, it will be one of the few times this season they will have a fully healthy roster. Mitchell Robinson missed the first 58 games of the season due to offseason surgery on his left ankle. Robinson appeared in 17 games this season with five points and six rebounds per contest. While playing in limited minutes, Robinson’s performance was very promising to Knicks fans. Although they lost to Cleveland, the seven-footer was able to contain the big men, Evan Mobley and Jarett Allen. Robinson was a key benefactor for New York in the 2023 playoff matchup against the Cavs, knocking them out in five games.
Jalen Brunson will hope to continue his playoff dominance after averaging over 32 points per game in the 2024 playoff run, which ended in seven games against the Indiana Pacers. After missing just over a month due to an ankle injury suffered against the Lakers, Brunson came back just slightly underperforming. With game one tipping off Saturday night, the Knicks captain will have over a week to rest his ankle and get ready to turn into his playoff form.
Expect Ausar Thompson to be Brunson’s primary defender for the series. Averaging nearly two steals per game, the 22-year-old will have a huge assignment to begin his playoff career. Thompson has stepped up against elite opponents this season, notching five steals in Detroit’s win over Boston back in late February.
Detroit was able to hang around with the league’s best, unlike New York. The Pistons were able to knock off teams like Boston, Cleveland and the Lakers this year. The Knicks, on the other hand, did not fair the same, going 0-10 against said opponents.
But in the playoffs, everyone starts 0-0. Anything can happen, and that is what makes it special.
Game one tips off Saturday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN.