Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
The Pistons and the refs were too much for New York not to lose home-court advantage.
The
Knicks were close but lit no cigar on Monday, dropping Game 2 to the now-experienced Pistons by a
final score of 100-94 inside Madison Square Garden.
New York fell for the trap, thought falling down was no issue and a comeback was coming, but once they tied the game late in the final frame, they couldn’t get over the hump and failed misserably in beating an underdawg.
Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few other folks said before and after yesterday’s affair as Detroit stole home-court advantage from the Knicks.
"He battled like crazy... huge discrepancy in free throws, huge. I've got to take a look at that"
Tom Thibodeau talks about Jalen Brunson's performance and tonight's officiating:
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— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks)
April 22, 2025
Tom Thibodeau
On the Game 2 free-throw discrepancy and officiating:
“Look, I really don’t give a crap how they call the game as long as it’s consistent on both sides.
“If Cunningham’s driving and there’s marginal contact and he’s getting to the line, then Jalen [Brunson] deserves to be getting to the line. It’s really that simple.”
On the officiating impact in the game:
“That’s part of our league. You make your point, move on. Try to do it during the dead ball.”
On Brunson’s clutch ability:
“Oftentimes, you look at it and say ‘well, he has poise under pressure.’ He has confidence and where do those things come from? And then you understand it comes from preparation.
“Obviously, you have to have great talent. But because of the way he prepares himself when he’s in those situations, he’s very confident because of the work he put in.”
On the Pistons perceived lack of experience:
“They have some guys that have experience, and they have young guys, too. And we’re in the same boat. We have young guys, and we have some guys who’ve been through things. So whatever you have, that’s what you try to play toward.
“Sometimes, not all experience is good. If it’s good experience, it’s positive, and sometimes youthfulness is a plus too. So whatever you have, make the most of it.”
On the second-half comeback in Game 2, falling short of a win:
“Yeah, same thing [as Game 1]. We made a comeback. We had a good shot at the end, and it didn’t go in.”
On the glaring rebounding issues in Game 2:
“The rebounding was problematic the whole night, so that’s probably the whole game.”
On Karl-Anthony Towns’ subpar Game 2 outing:
“He’s getting touches, he’s making the right play. If he’s getting double-teamed, I don’t want him just shooting the ball over three people. That makes no sense to me.”
On Cade Cunningham’s steady threat:
“He’s such a dynamic player, there’s times you can defend him perfectly, and he still has the ability to make a shot or make a play, so you have to have the wherewithal to continue to do it throughout, for 48 minutes, with the understanding that he can make tough plays, he’s a great player. The idea is you have to try to make him work as much as you can, and then everyone’s gotta be working together cause any time you put two on him, you’ve gotta protect the paint and then react out and cover the three point line to challenge a shot and then get back to a body tor rebound, so it requires everyone putting a lot of work into it.”
On Cam Payne:
“He’s always had great speed, and he’s a catalyst. He can make you play fast. He’s got a good floater. And he’s not afraid. He’s very very confident. But he likes to play fast, and I like the speed in which he plays.”
"…There's definitely one ball. We have a lot of great players…it's on my shoulders; I'm not gonna point fingers & say some people need to do this or that…it's on me to make sure I set the table…"
– Jalen Brunson as KAT gets 3 shots in 2nd half & 0 in 4th & Knicks lose Game 2
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— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork)
April 22, 2025
Jalen Brunson
On his performance in Game 2:
“I feel like I’m getting in spots and missing shots that I normally make. And I feel like it could be a lot better. And I hold myself to a higher standard than that. And I just have to put my team in position to win.
“All the other stuff doesn’t matter. The stats, when it comes to a loss it doesn’t matter at all. I just got to help my team and put them in position to win, and tonight I didn’t do that.”
On the need to improve in defense and team discipline:
“Staying committed to their bodies and just understanding the angles and where they’re going. Most importantly, just communicating and staying connected.”
On the need to defend Pistons shooters in transition:
“Obviously matching up to Beasley and Hardaway, those guys, in transition. They’re just knockdown shooters, so we gotta limit their catch-and-shoots as best we can. That’s one big key.
“Obviously, being down eight after three quarters (in Game 1), it’s tough, but just remember that it’s a 48-minute game. Just continue to fight all the way through. Just remaining focused and composed.”
On Cam Payne’s confidence:
“That’s who he’s been since I’ve seen him play. I think the best thing that a player can have, in whatever league, whatever level you’re in, is confidence.
“There’s a lot of people who can work out in a gym, do all this other stuff when they’re by themselves, do all this stuff in practice, but it takes a lot to do it in a game when people may ask that question you just asked.
“Cam has the most confidence in himself, we have the most confidence in him. I think that’s what helps us as a team – we give ourselves confidence. I didn’t have to adjust to it at all. I just know that’s Cam Payne, he’s gonna bring energy regardless.”
Josh Hart was asked about the free throw disparity tonight:
"I'll let y'all examine that. That was an interesting thing. Y'all can figure that one out."
pic.twitter.com/puVFsNZ4G5
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks)
April 22, 2025
Josh Hart
On the Game 2 foul disparity:
“Yeah, you feel it. Obviously, that’s—I’ll let y’all examine that. That was an interesting thing. Y’all can figure that one out.”
On team mindest after losing Game 2:
“When you’re winning, everything’s easy. After a loss, you see the true character of a team. It’s the playoffs. The series is 1-1.”
On the need for better defensive focus and improvements:
“You see some of the play calls that they run that you scout and review, and some of them are after timeouts, where they draw up good plays.
“So obviously give them credit for drawing up good plays and on those screens, but we’ve gotta make sure we’re into our man to start a possession and dictate where we want them to go.”
On Duren and Stewart screens in the first two games of the series:
“It’s tough because they have Stewart and Duren setting good screens. It’s tough to stay attached, so we’ve gotta make sure we start the play off into them, into their hip and force their hip and forcing them where we want.”
On Payne’s shot selection:
“It definitely took a little bit of adjusting. Sometimes, I’ll be in with him and he’ll shoot it, and I’ll be like: ‘Cam what the hell—Oh there we go! Yessir!’ There was a moment of transition of those kinds of shots, but obviously you have faith in him.”
On Payne’s added playoff value:
“You need a guy that’s gonna make an impact like that. You wanna instill energy and get into the game. Sometimes you need someone who shoots some of those ‘what the hell?’ shots. He’s not scared of the moment. He relishes in it. And playoff time, you need those guys. Last year against Philly, Game 3, he really changed that game.”
"They're running stuff to get me off his body, setting screens to get me off him, stuff like that. They made some adjustments. We're gonna make some adjustments ourselves"
–– OG Anunoby on Cade Cunningham
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— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork)
April 22, 2025
OG Anunoby
On Cade Cunningham’s adjustments to have a better Game 2 outing:
“They were running stuff to get me off of his body. Setting screens to get me off of him, doing stuff like that.
“They made some adjustments, we’re gonna make some adjustments ourselves. They’re all trying to screen me. They’re moving on the screens, they’re doing that illegal stuff. I’m sure not every one of them is illegal, but they’re all trying to screen me as hard as they can.”
On Cunningham’s Game 2 performance:
“He’s a great player. Made some tough shots. They were doing some good stuff to get me off of him, off his body, and get him downhill.”
Karl-Anthony Towns
On the Game 2 rebounding struggles:
“We just didn’t get those 50/50 basketballs. They did a great job of getting those, and they did a great job of finding those long rebounds in different ways.
“They obviously knew after Game 1 that they had to come out with more intensity and we had to match it and we just didn’t tonight.”
On the need to avoid thinking miracle comebacks are always possible:
“Not every day you’re gonna get a 21-0 run. We can’t be expecting stuff like that, can’t expect to flip a switch and then all of a sudden we’re the team that we worked so hard all year to be.
“We gotta bring that execution and discipline all game.”
On his and the Knicks’ poor Game 2:
“Just trying to have the game do what it does, just executing what we talked about. I thought we got some great shots, some great looks, you live with those kinds of great shots and great looks, especially when you’ve fought back in the game.”
On the reasons behind his underperformance in Game 2:
“I was executing what we said we wanted to do. Just maybe, you always wish you could get one of those long rebounds, loose balls. It was something that got us, they got those 50-50 balls. We just didn’t get that today.
“It put us in a tough spot, we fought back, we put ourselves in the game, gave ourselves a chance, took some good shots. You trust everyone in this locker room to take those shots and make them. Nothing to feel bad about getting those kinds of shots.”
On Cam Payne’s “Turbo Mode” being there all day:
“Turbo’s been that all year for us. He’s been great for us every time we’ve needed him, either when JB went down or gets hurt. Cam has always stepped in as an integral part of our team and finding ways for us to be successful.”
Cam Payne
On his shot selection in Game 1:
“Honestly, I’m just trying to take the best shot I can get. It’s not necessarily heat checks, I’m just trying to play basketball the right way.”
On game-planning and staying confident:
“Everybody knows what we’re running. We know what they’re running. So it’s about being aggressive and taking the shots you work on and keep building confidence from there.”
On playing at Madison Square Garden:
“It feels good. It feels good. Everybody [at MSG] is on my side this time. I ain’t most hated right now. But it’s fun. It’s fun.”
J.B. Bickerstaff on tonight’s Pistons win:
“We did what we were supposed to do. That was it. To win a game, on the road, to get home court was what we came here for. So we approached it with a business-like mentality.”
pic.twitter.com/EX03Z1ZBnB
— Hunter Patterson (@HuntPatterson_)
April 22, 2025
J.B. Bickerstaff (Detroit Pistons Coach)
On the Pistons' win in Game 2:
“We did what we were supposed to do. That was it. To win a game, on the road, to get home-court advantage was what we came here for. So we approached it with a business-like mentality.”
On Cade Cunningham getting the benefit of the whistle:
“He’s a great player. He got to the line a lot.”
On how he approached defending Brunson in Game 2:
“We’ve got bodies we can keep throwing at him. If the game’s physical and we keep bumping, bruising, our aim’s to wear guys down.
“We need to be who we are, be physical.”
On Duren’s postseason debut:
“[The postseason] is different, but just like a regular season game, you have to be the best version of yourself. I know [that] and I expect more, and I know that he’ll give us more because he has all year.”
On Anunoby’s defensive impact and adjustments made ahead of Game 2:
“We’ve got to be more physical with him on the offensive end of the floor. You go back and watch the film, and a lot of our screens were whiffed. If you’re gonna set a screen on a guy like that, you’ve got to put a body on him. The times that we did, we were able to create leverage and find two-on-ones or whatever it may be.
“This series, we talk about physicality, but physicality just isn’t defense. There’s physicality on the offensive end of the floor, and we’ve got to up that.”
On the Pistons’ mentality after losing Game 1:
“I think for us it was a learning experience of what fourth-quarter basketball is like in the postseason. It’s a mentality of if you don’t win this game or these games, your season’s over with. And the mentality that people have when their back is against the wall and how you have to match that, and I thought the Knicks did a great job in that fourth quarter of playing with a sense of urgency.
“I think for us, this is our first experience of it, how quickly do you learn? Talking to the guys, watching film with the guys, having conversations with the guys, they saw it and felt it. Now it’s on us to make that adjustment.”
Malik Beasley (Detroit Pistons Player)
On the MSG crowd animosity toward him and Detroit:
“I love that. That’s New York. It’s basketball. It’s competitive. It’s the fans.
“Wait ’til we get to Detroit.”
On loving being part of big moments:
“I’m from the South, so I grew up in the standing-room-only gyms. I love the crowd, especially New York fans. I love big moments. I worked hard for those. I put in a lot of work, so it just comes naturally when I get in those moments.”
On applying physicality to stop Brunson:
“He’s a heavy-minute guy, heavy-usage guy, so the best we can [do] to slow him down, we’ll do that.
“If I’ve got to lean on his body a little bit or mess with him a little bit, I will. That’s fine, but I know how to reuse it against him.
“Chess, not checkers.”
Ernie Johnson: [Cade Cunningham] best player on the floor so far in this game?"
Kenny Smith: "He has been."
Charles Barkley: "Going into the series, he's the best player."
KS: "That had a better year than [Jalen] Brunson?"
CB: "Yeah I do."
KS: "Wow."
pic.twitter.com/hzx0q0TkGS
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints)
April 22, 2025
Charles Barkley (Former NBA Player)
On Cade Cunningham vs. Jalen Brunson:
“He has been the best player in the series. Going into the series, he’s the best player. You know I like Brunson...
“...but that guy’s (Cunningham) the best player on the court in the series.”
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Jalen Brunson of 
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