Cade Cunningham scored 24 points and Ausar Thompson added 22 as each made clutch shots in the final two minutes to help the visiting Detroit Pistons avoid elimination in the first round with a gritty 106-103 victory over the New York Knicks Tuesday night in Game 5.
The Pistons won their fourth game this season in New York and sent the series back to Detroit for Game 6 on Thursday. If the Pistons can win their first home game, the series would return to New York for Game 7 on Saturday.
Tobias Harris added 17 and Dennis Schroder contributed 13 off the bench for the Pistons, who shot 42.4 percent. Malik Beasley finished with 10 while Jalen Duren added nine points and 14 rebounds, including the putback dunk that snapped a 95-95 tie with 3:05 lead and a putback that gave the Pistons a 99-95 lead with 2:28 left.
OG Anunoby scored 19 to lead the Knicks, who failed to clinch a series on their home court for the first time since beating the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the 1999 Eastern Conference finals. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges finished with 17 apiece but Jalen Brunson was held to 16 on 4-of-16 shooting as the Knicks shot 43.3 percent and missed 11 free throws
Cunningham gave Detroit a 101-95 lead with a difficult floater in the lane with 1:57 left and Thompson converted a dunk with 27.4 seconds for a 103-97 edge. After those shots, the Pistons survived Bridges hitting a corner 3 with 25.3 seconds and Anunoby’s left side 3 over Cunningham with 7.1 seconds left to cut Detroit’s lead to 104-103.
Detroit called its final timeout with 5.7 seconds left and Cunningham put Detroit up three with 5.4 seconds remaining. After Miles McBride missed two free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining, the Knicks secured an offensive rebound but could not get off a final shot before the horn sounded.
Detroit held a seven-point lead on Thompson’s dunk with 4:18 left but the Knicks ended the half with a 17-9 spurt to get a 50-49 lead by halftime.
Thompson’s dunk opened a 59-53 lead and capped an 8-0 run less than three minutes into the third and Harris hit an open 3 for a 66-57 lead with six minutes left. Two free throws by Thompson gave Detroit a 71-61 edge with 4:29 left and the Knicks ended the quarter with a 13-6 burst to cut the lead to 77-74 entering the fourth.
Cunningham went around a screen by Thompson and gained separation for an open 3 from the left side by the Knicks’ bench to give Detroit a 95-90 lead with 4:17 left before Duren’s tiebreaking hoop countered a deep 3 by Towns.
