Pistons’ Cade Cunningham sounds off on huge revenge win vs. Knicks

The Detroit Pistons answered the call to the highly anticipated rematch against the New York Knicks. After falling short in last season’s first-round playoff matchup, the Pistons got a dose of vengeance with a 121-90 blowout victory.

This was also the first matchup of the regular season between the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference. Monday night’s victory for Detroit keeps them locked as the No. 1 seed at 27-9. New York remains at No. 2 with a 23-13 record. Pistons’ All-Star point guard Cade Cunningham was not shy about the team’s eagerness to beat the Knicks at Little Caesars Arena.

“It’s a new season, so we’re trying to put all that stuff behind us. Obviously, we knew there was a little extra to this game — we want to beat them, there’s no hiding that in the room,” Cunningham expressed at the end of the game. “But we’re just trying to continue what we’ve been doing all year and keep our momentum. We had a great win last night in Cleveland while down a lot of our guys, and we just want to keep that momentum going.”

Detroit is currently sitting on a two-game winning streak on back-to-back days against two Eastern Conference playoff contenders. The home thrashing also marked the Pistons’ biggest margin of victory this regular season at 31.

After a close first-quarter start, the Pistons turned up their energy and offensive execution to build a ten-point halftime lead. Detroit went on to hold the Knicks to only 15 points in the quarter and never looked back in the second half. New York was outscored in the second half by a staggering margin of 57-36. Pistons’ head coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke on what a victory of this magnitude means for his team during his postgame presser.

“Again, it’s one of 82, and that’s our mindset. We’re focused on playing our best basketball every single night. We don’t change because of our opponents or what the moment is. We want to be good. We want to be great. In order to do that, we have to be consistent,” Bickerstaff explained. “So, if you’re playing the emotional game and the emotional rollercoaster, you can’t find consistency. I think that’s what our guys have found consistency in their system and in their identity, and that gives you the opportunity to execute at a high level. You come up with results like this.”

Pistons beat Knicks amid injuries

The Pistons came into the contest without center Jalen Duren, forward Tobias Harris, and bench wing Caris LeVert for the second straight game. Detroit leaned on who was available and still managed to connect all cylinders.

Cunningham led all scorers with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field. He also knocked down three of his four 3-point attempts against the Knicks. His elite-level playmaking was also on display with 13 assists, recording his 20th double-double of the season.

Detroit had another standout performance from their bench as they scored 58 points as a unit. Forward JaVonte Green led the second group with 17 points, including four important triples. Shooting guard Jaden Ivey had one of his most impressive nights of the season scoring 16 points in 22 minutes. Backup point guard Daniss Jenkins continued his excellent play with 12 points and four assists for the Pistons.

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