The Detroit Pistons have guts.
Resilience, fortitude, whatever you want to call it, the Pistons have it.
They came up short in their quest to send their first-round series to an unlikely game seven and you have to hand it to the Knicks, they made huge shot after huge shot and ultimately the biggest one of the series.
It took a monster game from Jalen Brunson, who was brilliant, for the Knicks to advance past a team whose best players are all 23 years old or younger.
I can’t even be mad.
The Pistons didn’t play their best game, but all of their young guys stepped up at different times. Jalen Duren had a monster game and showed a lot of heart in this series in general.
I thought Ausar Thompson had the defensive play of the year when he swiped the ball from Brunson late in the 4th, but Brunson had the last laugh with a dagger 3-pointer that everyone knew was going in.
This series came down to shot making and the Knicks hit more big shots than the Pistons, it’s that simple.
Don’t get caught up blaming the refs (who I thought were very good tonight), Brunson’s foul baiting or Karl-Anthony Town’s antics (he is so annoying), in the end, the Pistons were beaten by a slightly better team that has more playoff experience.
They were supposed to be here, the Pistons weren’t, and to go from 14 wins to this is nothing short of miraculous. I love this team, and they are far from finished.
The Detroit Pistons learned championship lessons
After what I saw in this series, I see no reason why this team can’t compete for a title and soon.
That might be hyperbole, but they responded in the moment again and again, showing the kind of resilience and guts it takes to win in the playoffs.
Cade Cunningham has shown he can be the best player in a playoff series. He came up just short in this one, but the DNA is there.
Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren were both amazing at times, and I was really impressed how well they responded in big moments.
And I am not saying this to make an excuse, but the Pistons were missing their best defender and second-leading scorer and just took a team with a championship-or-bust roster to six games and made them earn every bit of it.
Congrats to the Knicks on a fantastic and entertaining series. But lessons will be learned, and you can bet this is not the last you have seen of the Detroit Pistons.