Monday night marked a momentous occasion for the Detroit Pistons. With their 100-94 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the Pistons officially secured their first playoff victory since 2008, ending a 17-year drought.
It was truly a memorable day for all those who have followed the team ever since Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace were the franchise's cornerstones. Now, this new generation has put Detroit basketball back on the map and heads back to Motor City with a favorable 1-1 split in the series.
The end of Monday's Game 2 featured a particularly significant development that gave the Pistons some new insight they can utilize going forward. With 10:40 remaining in the fourth quarter and Detroit leading by nine, Malik Beasley missed a three-pointer. The Knicks grabbed the rebound, and Jalen Brunson brought the ball down the floor.
As he crossed the half-court line, Brunson saw Ausar Thompson standing in front of him and opted to take advantage of a younger player. Blatantly running into Thompson on a play that should have resulted in an offensive foul, the referee instead signaled a defensive foul on Ausar, which in turn forced J.B. Bickerstaff to send him to the bench.
Thompson fouling out opened the door for Schroder to shine
It was not pleasant for any non-Knicks fans to watch Brunson repeatedly fall down and initiate unnatural contact to draw fouls, but that's actually beside the point here. With Thompson out of the contest, it gave the Pistons a unique opportunity which ended up paying off: Playing Dennis Schroder more down the stretch.
Schroder stepped up and scored eight big points in the final 10 minutes of action, including a massive three-pointer with 56 seconds to go that broke a 94-all tie and essentially was the difference for Detroit. Without his play in the final frame, there's no guarantee the Pistons walk away with the victory.
There was not going to be a great chance Detroit played Schroder that much in the final minutes without Thompson's foul trouble. So in a way, the Pistons benefitted from Brunson's blatant foul-hunting.
What this does is give Detroit another tried-and-true option against the Knicks for the rest of the series. Ausar is talented, but the veteran experience of a guy like Schroder matters in these playoff scenarios. The Pistons can trust him in close contests, and he proved that in Game 2.