The first-round series between the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks has already been a classic and we haven’t even played game six.
It has had everything you would want from playoff basketball, as it has mostly been a well-played series with tough defense, physicality and big moments.
Every game has been close, and we can expect more of the same, as these two teams have felt each other out and know exactly what they want to do against each other.
In such tight, low scoring games, every single possession is crucial, every bucket and mistake put under a microscope.
The Pistons have played with poise that belies their youth, and they will have to do it again in front of their home crowd tonight with their season once again on the line.
And so will their coach.
JB Bickerstaff: Challenges and technicals
I thought coach JB Bickerstaff might have cost his team game five when he lost another coach’s challenge with more than 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter and then compounded the mistake by getting a technical foul, which briefly gave the Knicks the lead.
Bickerstaff has been flat-out bad on challenges in this series, as he has yet to win one and has used them in some moments that had fans scratching their heads.
He’s used two of them very early on games on inconsequential plays that wouldn’t have made much difference in the game.
Bickerstaff did wait until the 4th quarter of game five but used his challenge on a fairly obvious foul on Tobias Harris that had no chance of being overturned. Even if the refs thought Towns’ elbow was intentional or an offensive foul, Harris had a big handful of his jersey before it happened, so it wouldn’t have mattered.
The Pistons lost the challenge and a timeout, which they could have used late in the game.
Coach Bickerstaff then got a technical, gifting the Knicks another free throw in a game when every single point was huge. I don’t know what JB said to referee Marc Davis, but this is a guy who is known for giving out T’s like Halloween candy, so coach just has to be smarter there.
These are two mistakes that can’t happen in game six, as the Pistons are walking a razor-thin margin and have no room for error.
Coach Bickerstaff has to use his challenge in a moment that actually matters in the game (it would be nice if he would win one too) and can’t pick up silly technicals to give the Knicks free points.