Knicks use Pistons' miscues to spark 21-0 run in Game 1 win - ESPN

NEW YORK — The young, upstart Detroit Pistons, who had more than tripled their regular-season win total and were seeking their first playoff win in 17 years, seemingly had little else to prove in Saturday's first-round opener.

They had shown to be up to the task of defending All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson, who had started an ice-cold 2-for-13 from the field. Detroit looked fully in rhythm on offense and was shooting better than 50% from deep through three quarters to lead by eight heading into the fourth.

But all of it — the defense on Brunson, the Pistons' offensive rhythm and just about everything else — came crashing down for Detroit at Madison Square Garden in the fourth quarter.

The Knicks, whose pressure defense forced a pair of turnovers to open the final period, turned the momentum quickly and embarked on a 21-0 run over a four-and-a-half-minute span to run away with the contest 123-112 and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

That fateful fourth quarter began on the wrong foot for the Pistons, who got whistled for a five-second violation when trying to inbound the ball on the first play of the period after Knicks guard Cameron Payne unexpectedly applied pressure in the backcourt.

If that wasn't bad enough, Detroit committed a 24-second shot clock violation on the following possession. And talented second-year wing Ausar Thompson blew a breakaway dunk in embarrassing fashion about a minute after that.

The mistakes opened the door for the Knicks — who to that point had been kept afloat by OG Anunoby's offense — to begin making up ground.

«Things turned really, really quickly,» Brunson said, acknowledging that the Pistons' five-second violation felt like the catalyst. «I think we were just connected in the way