Julius Randle poured in a season-high 42 points and the New York Knicks defeated the host Detroit Pistons for the 12th consecutive time, 117-104, on Sunday afternoon.
Randle made 15 of 24 shots and added 15 rebounds and four assists. Jalen Brunson supplied 27 points with four assists. Immanuel Quickley had 17 points and RJ Barrett added 13 points.
New York, which has won seven of its last eight games, completed a sweep of the four-game season series.
Jaden Ivey and Saddiq Bey each had 21 points and six rebounds to lead the Pistons. Kevin Knox added 16 points and Alec Burks tossed in 14.
Bojan Bogdanovic, the Pistons’ leading scorer, missed the game with a non-COVID illness. He was among several players unavailable for Pistons coach Dwane Casey, who used only nine players.
Detroit’s depleted ranks were further complicated by foul issues, as both Isaiah Stewart and Ivey picked up three apiece in the first half. The Knicks opened up a 20-point lead in the second quarter but the Pistons finished the first half with a 15-4 run to pull within 62-55 by halftime. Former Knicks forward Knox sparked the run with seven points.
Ivey made two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half as the Pistons pulled within six points.
At the midway point of the third, the Knicks’ lead was still six. Barrett dunked after a Brunson steal and Brunson made a drive to push New York’s lead into double digits again at 80-70.
Bey hit a 3-pointer late in the quarter to cut Detroit’s deficit to six but Randle made two layups in the last 34 seconds to give New York a 90-80 advantage.
Quickley opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer. He made two free throws with 9:43 left to give the Knicks a 100-82 lead.
The Pistons then went on a 16-5 run but Randle drained a 3-pointer with 3:48 left to give his club a 109-98 lead. Detroit couldn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media