{"id":139757,"date":"2026-02-20T08:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139757\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T08:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:15:18","slug":"knicks-torched-by-pistons-again-as-cade-cunningham-drops-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139757\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks torched by Pistons again as Cade Cunningham drops 42"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until further notice, the Pistons still own the Knicks<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the third time in three matchups this season, Detroit punked New York and reinforced its position atop the East, prompting boos from the MSG crowd at the end of Thursday\u2019s 126-111 victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey play great against us,\u201d Jalen Brunson said. \u201cI think today was not as bad as the first two losses. But it\u2019s just not up to our standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham attempts a shot during the Knicks\u2019 126-111 loss to the Pistons at the Garden on Feb. 19, 2026. Robert Sabo for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham gave the Knicks fits, per usual, dropping 42 points in 38 minutes with 13 assists and eight rebounds. <\/p>\n

He got no resistance from OG Anunoby, who is missing a toenail but played Thursday like he was missing both feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just didn\u2019t slow him down fast enough,\u201d Brunson said, \u201cor even at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks (35-21), sitting third in the East, fell seven games behind the No. 1 Pistons (41-13). Their chances of getting the top seed have never been bleaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And they\u2019ve been utterly overmatched by the upstart Pistons. In the three games, the Knicks have been outscored by a total of 84 points. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been frustrated and rendered inefficient by the athletic feistiness of the Pistons, who held New York to just 22.9 percent on 3-pointers. In total Thursday, the Knicks missed 28 treys.<\/p>\n

Paul Reed blocks OG Anunoby\u2019s shot during the Knicks\u2019 loss to the Pistons on Feb. 19, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody wants to lose. And everybody is disappointed,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sure everybody is trying to figure out how they could\u2019ve played better to help the team win. So it\u2019s not a fun feeling. It shouldn\u2019t be a fun feeling for me or anybody else in that locker room. But for sure it\u2019s not the end of the world. We got to regroup, watch the film to see how to get better and get the next one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anunoby (8 points, 3-of-13 shooting) was terrible. Mikal Bridges (eight points) disappeared and was benched for the final 9 \u00b9\/\u2082 minutes. <\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns was again messy with just two points in the first half, though he recovered nicely and finished with 19. Brunson was alone with 33 points and seven assists, but he committed six turnovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was ugly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pride, more than anything, should\u2019ve been on the line<\/a> for the Knicks after previous results against Detroit.\u00a0\u00a0But pride, if it existed Thursday, couldn\u2019t beat Cunningham.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Garden crowd was fired up for the showdown, hoping for some Knicks revenge. <\/p>\n

But the Pistons still carried the bigger chip on their shoulders after losing to the Knicks in the playoffs last year, a series that hasn\u2019t been forgotten in Detroit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat series still in my mind could have gone either way depending on some circumstances that we won\u2019t get into tonight,\u201d said Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff, alluding, perhaps, to the botched non-call at the end of Game 4. \u201cIt was a great learning lesson for our guys, but the regular season matters, how you present yourself every single night matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham celebrates during the Pistons\u2019 win over the Knicks on Feb. 19, 2026. Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people, for whatever reason, because there\u2019s 82 games, people want to devalue the regular season but the regular season matters to help you get ready for where you\u2019re going. And those experiences matter. Confidence against an opponent matters, the belief that you can beat an opponent matters, especially when you tie in the experience of going through a playoff series and having the ability to take that next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building confidence against the Knicks this season hasn\u2019t been a problem for Detroit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Knicks were almost at full strength with the return of Anunoby, who sat the previous four games with a toenail avulsion. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Pistons, meanwhile, were missing their bruising frontcourt duo of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, who were suspended because of a brawl<\/a> before the All-Star break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But their absences proved inconsequential. The Knicks offense was again stuck in mud because the Pistons are stronger and faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And on the other end, nobody could stop Cunningham.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to try to keep the ball off the middle of the floor. And we didn\u2019t do a good job of it. We allowed [Cunningham] to get to the middle of the floor often,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnd when he got to the middle of the floor, he hurt us. So we have to do a better job of trying to keep the ball on the sidelines and not allowing it to get to the middle of the floor. And even in pick-and-roll situations just making sure that we\u2019re defending the pick-and-roll the right way. He got loose in that pick-and-roll, especially in the first half. And we just didn\u2019t do a good job with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until further notice, the Pistons still own the Knicks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the third time in three matchups this season, Detroit punked New York and reinforced its position atop the East, prompting boos from the MSG crowd at the end of Thursday\u2019s 126-111 victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham gave the Knicks fits, per usual, dropping 42 points in 38 minutes with 13 assists and eight rebounds. <\/p>\n

He got no resistance from OG Anunoby, who is missing a toenail but played Thursday like he was missing both feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Knicks (35-21), sitting third in the East, fell seven games behind the No. 1 Pistons (41-13). <\/p>\n

Their chances of getting the top seed are bleaker than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And they\u2019ve been utterly overmatched by the upstart Pistons. <\/p>\n

In the three games, the Knicks were outscored by a total of 84 points. They\u2019ve been frustrated and rendered inefficient by the athletic feistiness of the Pistons, who held New York to just 22.9 percent on 3-pointers Thursday. <\/p>\n

Total, the Knicks missed 28 treys.<\/p>\n

Anunoby (eight points, 3 for 13 shooting) was terrible.<\/p>\n

Mikal Bridges (eight points) disappeared and was benched for the final 9 \u00bd minutes. <\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns was again messy with just two points in the first half, though he recovered nicely and finished with 19. <\/p>\n

Jalen Brunson was alone with 33 points and seven assists, but he committed six turnovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was ugly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Garden crowd was fired up for the showdown, hoping for some Knicks revenge. <\/p>\n

But the Pistons still carried the bigger chip on their shoulders after losing to the Knicks in the playoffs last year, a series that still hasn\u2019t been forgotten in Detroit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat series still in my mind could have gone either way depending on some circumstances that we won\u2019t get into tonight,\u201d said Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff, alluding, perhaps, to the botched noncall at the end of Game 4. \u201cIt was a great learning lesson for our guys, but the regular season matters, how you present yourself every single night matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people for whatever reason, because there\u2019s 82 games, people want to devalue the regular season but the regular matters to help you get ready for where you\u2019re going. And those experiences matter. Confidence against an opponent matters, the belief that you can beat an opponent matters, especially when you tie in the experience of going through a playoff series and having the ability to take that next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building confidence against the Knicks this season hasn\u2019t been a problem for Detroit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Knicks were almost at full strength with the return of Anunoby, who sat the previous four games with that toenail problem. <\/p>\n

But their absences proved inconsequential. The Knicks\u2019 offense was again stuck in mud because the Pistons are stronger and faster.<\/p>\n

They trailed by 10 at the break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Knicks then rallied after halftime to cut the deficit to 4, largely because Towns came out aggressive after disappearing in the first half.<\/p>\n

But the comeback was short-lived. <\/p>\n

The Pistons were back up 11 to start the fourth quarter, with the Knicks offering nothing to stop Cunningham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until further notice, the Pistons still own the Knicks.\u00a0 For the third time in three matchups this season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19719,1267,4777,21,9,24,55,54,1104,56,319],"class_list":["post-139757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-ny","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}