Last year, the Detroit Pistons watched the playoffs at their home after their worst season in the history of the franchise. Now they have had their first victory in playoffs since 2008.
Cade Cunningham led to a 100-94 victory against the New York Knicks at the Madison Square Garden on Monday, equaling the series to a victory each and ending a losing skid of 15 games. In the second eliminatory match of his career, Cunningham dropped 33 points and 12 boards.
Like match 1, the Knicks outstripped the pistons for a large part of the fourth quarter, and this led to a downward finish. New York equaled things with just over a minute to do, but Dennis Schröder, who finished with 20 points on the bench, struck a three to become the pistons again. After obtaining crucial arrests in defense, Schröder struck a franc throw to make a four -point match with only 8.1 seconds to play, sealing the victory for Detroit.
Cunningham had trouble in the first match in the series on Saturday, but he proved on Monday that he was ready for everything that has just been the star player of a eliminatory team.
The pistons had a strong regular season, but some wondered if they were legitimate contenders before the playoffs. They proved with the victory on Monday that they are ready to compete, and now they will go to Detroit Thursday with a chance to take lead in the series.
