Pistons injury update: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons 111-97 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks vs Pistons game turned on a halftime challenge from coach Mike Brown and Detroit’s shrinking frontcourt.
Pistons injury update: Duren out, Collins falls
Detroit entered without starting center Jalen Duren, who was sidelined by a hamstring injury. Paul Reed started in his place and punished New York inside early, scoring 16 points before halftime.
The Pistons’ frontcourt depth took another hit in the third quarter. John Collins crashed to the floor while battling Towns for a rebound with 3:59 remaining, striking his head on the Madison Square Garden hardwood. He did not return and finished with two points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes.
Towns was assessed a loose-ball foul on the Collins play. Detroit, already without Duren and with Reed in foul trouble, had fewer options to counter Towns’ size.
Towns answers Brown’s halftime challenge
Towns had eight points and three rebounds in the first half. Reed had 16 points. The Knicks had erased a 13-point first-quarter deficit to take a 51-50 halftime lead, but Mike Brown challenged Towns directly at the break.
“KAT’s a grown man. He’s obviously a perennial All-Star. I just told him the truth,” Brown said. “KAT, this guy is killing us on the glass.”
Brown was specific about Reed’s damage. “When he gets a rebound, he’s putting it back,” Brown said of Reed. “Anything he gets in the paint, he’s putting it back. Catches on the perimeter, you know, guard him.”
Towns responded with 19 points and 17 rebounds after halftime, finishing with 27 and 20. It was his first 20-point, 20-rebound game of the season and fifth in a Knicks uniform. He shot 8-for-12 in the second half.
Towns pointed to the team’s response rather than his own numbers. “I thought we did a better job picking up on our intensity and our physicality, and we executed at a high level,” he said. “We’ve got to worry about the controllables, which is playing our best.”
Reed’s foul trouble shifts the paint
The physical battle boiled over with 8:30 left in the third. Reed caught Towns in the head with an elbow while battling for a rebound. Towns confronted Reed before players were separated. Officials assessed Reed a flagrant-1 foul, and Towns made both free throws.
Less than two minutes later, Reed picked up his fifth personal foul with 7:21 remaining in the third. He scored six more points the rest of the night after his 16-point first half.
Towns scored 13 in the third quarter as New York outscored Detroit 37-13. The Knicks turned a 51-50 halftime lead into an 88-63 advantage. Towns grabbed 17 rebounds over the final two quarters after managing three in the opening half.
The difference was unmistakable. Towns went from being outplayed by Reed in the first half to controlling the paint as New York pulled away.
Knicks find the physicality Brown demanded
Jalen Brunson finished with 23 points and seven assists. New York held Detroit to 13 points in the third quarter after allowing 38 in the first. The Knicks became the aggressors rather than reacting to Detroit’s movement and screens.
Brown had spent much of the opening week questioning his team’s consistency, particularly its ability to sustain physical play. Against Detroit, he finally saw longer stretches of the basketball he has been preaching.
Brown said his players recognized the difference. “Once our guys realized, no, no, I can’t react to them. I got to dictate to them what’s going to happen, and do it with a smart level of physicality,” he said.
The win was New York’s first of the season, moving the Knicks to 1-3. Detroit fell to 3-1 for its first loss. The Knicks visit the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) in the second game of a back-to-back.
Brown was not ready to call the early-season problems solved. “Is it fixed? No, it ain’t fixed. Nothing’s really fixed,” he said. “What tonight shows us is we’re more than capable if we put our minds to it, and that’s what we got to continue to try to build on.”
The original report was published by philstar.com.
