DETROIT — The story of a suddenly cohesive unit pummeling an overmatched opponent was told in the opening six minutes.
- A backdoor cut into a layup from Karl-Anthony Towns.
- An over-the-shoulder, no-look pass from Towns to a cutting Jalen Brunson for a reverse layup.
- An alley-oop from Brunson to OG Anunoby.
- A Josh Hart jam after a Mikal Bridges steal.
- A Brunson backdoor cut into a layup off Bridges’ assist.
By the end of this offensive clinic, the Knicks were already up 10 points and snatched the fight out of the sad Pistons, who folded like a deuce-seven offsuit poker hand and lost to New York for the 16th straight time in Friday night’s 128-98 wire-to-wire annihilation.
The Knicks (3-2) led by 26 points after the first quarter, tying the franchise’s second-biggest advantage ever for the first 12 minutes.
They were up by as many as 33 in the first half.
The Pistons never got closer than 22 after that.
When Leon Rose created these Knicks in the offseason, Friday night — just the fifth game of the season — was what he must’ve hoped would materialize from the starting lineup.
Jalen Brunson, the captain, dissected Detroit’s defense while scoring 26 of his season-high 36 points in the first half.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who had been listed as questionable with a sprained wrist before tip-off, added 11 rebounds and seven assists with 21 points, two nights after dropping 44 on the Heat.
He continued to counter the “soft” label, backing down Pistons enforcer Isaiah Stewart for a layup attempt, an offensive rebound and a putback through contact in the second quarter.
Towns is shooting a ridiculous 65 percent on his 3-pointers to start the season, hitting 3 of 6 on Friday.
OG Anunoby, the $212 million man, recorded 21 points with six assists.
Mikal Bridges contributed 15 points with seven boards. Josh Hart gave 13 points with nine rebounds.
The Knicks finished with 16 steals, including four from Miles McBride.
There was ball movement, unselfishness, cutting, deadeye shooting.
It was the Knicks’ early Thanksgiving.
They were visitors in Little Caesars Arena and all feasted.
The Pistons (1-5), the East’s shining example of ineptitude this decade, haven’t beaten the Knicks since 2019.
Tom Thibodeau has never lost to them with New York, and he also owns Detroit’s new coach, JB Bickerstaff, who was hired in the summer after a four-year stint with the Cavs.
Bickerstaff’s lowlight in Cleveland was probably his team getting punked by the Knicks in the 2023 playoffs, and he knew the Knicks were different but the same.
“They’re different. Adding guys like Towns, Bridges gives them a different dynamic of guys that can individually impact a game at a high level. Both of those guys are capable of having big nights, but I think what they’ve done is they’ve kept the heart and soul of the team, and their spirit is the same,” Bickerstaff said. “I think losing Donte [DiVincenzo] was a little bit of a change. I thought he did a great job for them as well, but having the Josh Harts of the world, the Jalen Brunsons of the world, they keep that fight and spirit that gives them an opportunity and is kind of what they’ve been known for.
“They’ve been able to keep the defensive identity with Anunoby and Bridges as two-way players. They’re always going to be well coached. Thibs does a great job with his teams, but that mindset of who they are, I don’t think that changed with their personnel changes.”
