Knicks Fall After Taking a Late Lead in Detroit

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After leading for most of the game Friday night, the Detroit Pistons found themselves trailing the visiting Knicks by 4 points with 1 minute 48 second to play. A loss would have dropped the Pistons to 3-9 in December and a game behind the Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings.

Instead Detroit finished with a 9-2 run to post a 104-101 victory and its fourth win in five games.

A runner by Reggie Jackson in the lane made it 101-101 with 44 seconds left, and Ron Baker turned the ball over at the other end. Jackson then split a pair of free throws to give the Pistons a 1-point lead with 23.7 seconds to go.

Stanley Johnson forced Courtney Lee into a bad shot, then hit two free throws to put Detroit up by 104-101.

“I was going to attack the rim, but they cut me off, so I tried to step through and take the shot,” Lee said. “I thought there was contact, so I leaned in, but they didn’t call the foul.”

Kristaps Porzingis missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“At the end of the game, we were going to switch everything to make sure we always had someone on Porzingis,” Detroit Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He’s 7-foot-3, so he can shoot over anyone, but our guys were making it as tough as possible.”

Andre Drummond finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Pistons, while Tobias Harris scored 24 points. Seven Detroit players scored in double figures.

The Knicks had won five of six games, including a victory Thursday night over the Boston Celtics. Porzingis finished with 29 points on 28 shots, and Enes Kanter added 22 points and 16 rebounds.

“We weren’t able to get going downhill all night,” Knicks Coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We only got six free throws, so there wasn’t a lot of penetration, and we took a lot of outside shots.”

The Pistons pulled down four offensive rebounds in the first two minutes of the game on their way to a 12-2 lead. Drummond had 6 points and 6 rebounds early, but the Knicks got back into the game when he sat with two fouls.

Drummond was limited to seven minutes in the half, but the Pistons still led, 52-44, at intermission.

With three minutes left in the third, a follow-up shot by Kanter gave the Knicks a 69-68 lead, and he made another on the next possession. The Knicks finished with an 18-2 run to move the margin to 5 points, at 75-70, but the Pistons scored the quarter’s final 4 points to get within 1.

Detroit started the fourth period with a 10-4 run to lead by 5 points, 84-79, with 10:03 to play.

But the Knicks tied the game with 3:45 left when Drummond was called for goaltending, and Porzingis followed with a midrange jumper to put the Knicks ahead, 95-93. After the teams traded baskets, Harris missed and Jarrett Jack hit a short jumper to make it 99-95 with 1:48 to play.

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Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. missed the game with a leg injury, but he was called for a technical foul in the first quarter for arguing a call. His father was on the opposite bench as one of Van Gundy’s assistant coaches.