2025 NBA PLAYOFFS East First Round: #3 New York Knicks vs #6 Detroit Pistons (Series tied 1-1)

[scrabbarista]

This series on paper should easily favor the Knicks. Josh Hart will be on Cade Cummingham for a huge portion of the game and I could Cade struggling with efficiency. He will still get his ether way, but it may be tougher than usual for him. OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges should easily outmatch any output from the any of the Pistons wings and forwards. The KAT VS Duren matchup will be interesting. Jalen Duren has looked better on defense, but he still has his bad moments the on that side of the ball. KAT is known for his defensive struggles, but maybe not as much of cone as what people believed. Jalen Brunson has look a bit different in the 4 games since he came back from injury, but I think the rust will eventually fade and he play like his usual offensive superstar self as the series goes on.The Pistons best chance of making this a real series or even winning the series is taking advantage of Jalen Brunson still being a bit rusty early and make life difficult for KAT. Also Ausar Thompson is also going to need to play lockdown defense vs Mikal Bridges/OG Anunoby and significantly slow them down. Ron Hollard should get some playing time in order to take some of the defensive pressure off of Thompson. Overall I think the Knicks should win this series in 5 or 6 games, but some uncertain variable that could make this more of a series or this series ends up being a sweep in favor of the Knicks.

I think it'll come down to the Knicks making threes, and I think they will. Probably in 5 or 6.

But I noticed three things from watching Detroit-Houston in person in January:

1. Duren, etc., will wreck absolute havoc if you don't match their physicality and hit them on every play.

2. Cade can get loose for a quarter and swing a game.

3. The Pistons will pack the paint on defense, and if you don't stretch them out, you'll probably lose.

[scrabbarista]

Doing my all-time rankings again, and Towns is at an inflection point for his career. He's 29.

I have him at 139th this morning, but he's next to guys like Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Tyson Chandler, and Mookie Blaylock. He's obviously more talented than these guys (King excepted) and will zoom past them, but how high can he go? Can he push into the top 75 before he hangs up his sneakers? Higher? The Playoffs is where reputations are made. Has he matured into a true 1b, thr kind of player who can occasionally be a 1a in the highest pressure situations? Or will he fade like the wallflower he too often was in Minnesota? It's time to find out...

I mean its abundantly clear he's much more physical in NY then he was in MIN. Kids very talented and defense is even alright when playing next to Mitch.

Yeah, I've barely seen him this season, but I watched him a ton last year, and he was exactly what you say: a totally different, more physical, more fearless player than who he was previously. I'm rooting for him, as there's nothing better than seeing a person/player change for the better and have it rewarded. He needs to keep building on what he started last season. He's 29.

[cgf]

Doing my all-time rankings again, and Towns is at an inflection point for his career. He's 29.

I have him at 139th this morning, but he's next to guys like Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Tyson Chandler, and Mookie Blaylock. He's obviously more talented than these guys (King excepted) and will zoom past them, but how high can he go? Can he push into the top 75 before he hangs up his sneakers? Higher? The Playoffs is where reputations are made. Has he matured into a true 1b, the kind of player who can occasionally be a 1a in the highest pressure situations? Or will he fade like the wallflower he too often was in Minnesota? It's time to find out...

Man, I know injuries ruined him, but seeing King amongst those other names hurts my soul.

[cgf]

lol same

Though, barring injuries, we should still take care of them pretty handily and I do expect Thibs to once again outcoach Bickerstaff. The JB you watched also never finished the season top 10 in bench minutes. Coaches develop the same way players do. Not saying he's suddenly some offensive wizard, but he's clearly made some adjustments to his rotations. So it seems silly to assume that it would be impossible for him to have made other adjustments as well.

I mean i don't like either team, so if jb somehow figured out how to be a competent post season coach then I'll just laugh that the Pistons eliminated the Knicks lol

However, I'm unwilling to bet anything on jb's post season coaching ability.

We could handle them and JB could have improved, those are not mutually exclusive.

[cgf]

Doing my all-time rankings again, and Towns is at an inflection point for his career. He's 29.

I have him at 139th this morning, but he's next to guys like Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Tyson Chandler, and Mookie Blaylock. He's obviously more talented than these guys (King excepted) and will zoom past them, but how high can he go? Can he push into the top 75 before he hangs up his sneakers? Higher? The Playoffs is where reputations are made. Has he matured into a true 1b, thr kind of player who can occasionally be a 1a in the highest pressure situations? Or will he fade like the wallflower he too often was in Minnesota? It's time to find out...

I mean its abundantly clear he's much more physical in NY then he was in MIN. Kids very talented and defense is even alright when playing next to Mitch.

Yeah, I've barely seen him this season, but I watched him a ton last year, and he was exactly what you say: a totally different, more physical, more fearless player than who he was previously. I'm rooting for him, as there's nothing better than seeing a person/player change for the better and have it rewarded. He needs to keep building on what he started last season. He's 29.

It would be really cool if both KAT and Julius could really re-write their postseason legacies now that they are both on teams that brought them in to be their #2/1b...not ones where they got surpassed as the #1/1a.

[scrabbarista]

Doing my all-time rankings again, and Towns is at an inflection point for his career. He's 29.

I have him at 139th this morning, but he's next to guys like Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Tyson Chandler, and Mookie Blaylock. He's obviously more talented than these guys (King excepted) and will zoom past them, but how high can he go? Can he push into the top 75 before he hangs up his sneakers? Higher? The Playoffs is where reputations are made. Has he matured into a true 1b, the kind of player who can occasionally be a 1a in the highest pressure situations? Or will he fade like the wallflower he too often was in Minnesota? It's time to find out...

Man, I know injuries ruined him, but seeing King amongst those other names hurts my soul.

I feel you. There's guys like that all throughout NBA history.

[cgf]

Everything that everyone has said (cgf, zeebneeb, even JujitsuFlip) has a relevant point to this series, but no one I believe has touched on the biggest one:

How does Thibs game plan his defense vs. Cade Cunningham?

Obvious answer would be just putting OG on him and wreak havoc, but it's not that easy, and I don't have a reasonable explanation on how, so if someone else can answer it, that's appreciated.

As always with thibs, depends on what works and what a specific game requires.

If Cade is working Mikal but we're locking everyone else up and lighting them up at the other end, then you just ride it out with Cade putting up video game #s in a losing effort. If they are throwing our offense off while Cade is killing Mikal, then he's likely to see a lot more of OG and maybe even dual big lineups so Mitch can lock down the paint to let everyone else be more aggressive on the perimeter.

People act like Thibs has this strict dogma that he never abandons, but his only dogma is winning. He may think that protecting the paint is more important to winning than some of us, but if something is working he won't abandon it just because it's not working his way and he's not afraid to try "un-Thibs-y" things when "his way" isn't working.

But my guess would be he starts with Mikal on Cade so OG can roam and sees how things go. I'm sure cade will see plenty of McBride & Hart as well as our two higher profile wingstoppers.

But then it's gonna be on them to play up on him and make him a passer, and have him prone to turning it over, which he is prone to do.

Those last games against Detroit, did Mikal or Hart even make him work for those buckets? No.

We'll see how things go. This is going to be the healthiest and most rested Knicks team that detroit has faced since our first match up, and unlike the last few times we've played them they will be our focus, not our game the next/previous night.

[Warspite]

Doing my all-time rankings again, and Towns is at an inflection point for his career. He's 29.

I have him at 139th this morning, but he's next to guys like Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Tyson Chandler, and Mookie Blaylock. He's obviously more talented than these guys (King excepted) and will zoom past them, but how high can he go? Can he push into the top 75 before he hangs up his sneakers? Higher? The Playoffs is where reputations are made. Has he matured into a true 1b, the kind of player who can occasionally be a 1a in the highest pressure situations? Or will he fade like the wallflower he too often was in Minnesota? It's time to find out...

Man, I know injuries ruined him, but seeing King amongst those other names hurts my soul.

Healthy prime Bernard King today is the best player in the NBA outside of Denver.

[Woodsanity]

I think my Knicks will win in 6. Pistons are a good team but still lacking offensively. Knicks defense was a bit shaky but it has improved towards the end of the season. I expect us to play solid defense in the playoffs with elite offense.

[knicksstuff]

Knicks on 0 or 1 day rest shot 36% from 3pt
Knicks on 2 day rest 40% from 3pt
Knicks on 3 day rest 44% from 3pt

that should be the difference in the series

[JujitsuFlip]

Though, barring injuries, we should still take care of them pretty handily and I do expect Thibs to once again outcoach Bickerstaff. The JB you watched also never finished the season top 10 in bench minutes. Coaches develop the same way players do. Not saying he's suddenly some offensive wizard, but he's clearly made some adjustments to his rotations. So it seems silly to assume that it would be impossible for him to have made other adjustments as well.

I mean i don't like either team, so if jb somehow figured out how to be a competent post season coach then I'll just laugh that the Pistons eliminated the Knicks lol

However, I'm unwilling to bet anything on jb's post season coaching ability.

We could handle them and JB could have improved, those are not mutually exclusive.

I guess it just really depends what you think that looks like.

jb had the worst offense in the 2023 playoffs (101.9 ortg)

jb had a bottom 3 offense in the 2024 playoffs (104.7 ortg)

So are you saying the Pistons will have above a 104.7 ortg? Or saying the Pistons just won't be dead last (or maybe not bottom 3) in offense of the 16 playoff teams?

[Edrees]

Knicks in 6, 5 if they stay 100% healthy

[Djoker]

[zeebneeb]

I am also picking the Knicks, but everything you just said is debatable.

Knicks have more mature talent.(Duren 21 Ausar 22 Holland 19 Cade 23 & Ivey 23 although not applicable here)Coaching is debatable. Both have major issues. Best player is absolutely debatable. The Pistons also have much better depth then the Knicks. Pistons have the 6th highest scoring bench in the league(40.2ppg led by arguably the leagues best three-point shooter this season, and Stewart with the best at the rim defensive FG% since 2015), whilst the Knicks is dead last.(21.7ppg)

Experience is going to play a massive role in this series, and thats what will be the Pistons undoing.

KAT, Brunson, OG, Mikal, Hart better than everyone on the Detroit roster not named Cade. The depth is not even remotely close. Knicks have 5 of the 6 best players in the series easily.

Best player is definitely debatable.

Coaching isn't close for me, I've seen far too much JB in the playoffs.

lol same

Really? You agree with that?

I'm shocked. shocked.

[tmorgan]

I’ll say this:

If the Knicks do end up with the best player in the series, either Brunson or Towns, they should win in 5 or 6, tops.

But that’s not guaranteed.

[Raps in 4]

Knicks in 5. Experience will be a factor.

[Phenomenonsense]

I'm a big fan of experience if I'm being honest, and I think there is no way to know how Cade will respond to the playoff atmosphere. I don't think the "playoff whistle" will affect him nearly as much as most young stars because he doesn't get foul calls regardless. I'm interested in the games the Pistons will be learning from, but I value that experience too highly to say anything other than Knicks in 6. If you ask me who I think will win the next 6 regular season games between these two, I think its Pistons in 6, but this is playoff basketball baby.

[Frankie]

Pistons in 7.

I'm a big Cade and Ausar believer.

[cgf]

I mean i don't like either team, so if jb somehow figured out how to be a competent post season coach then I'll just laugh that the Pistons eliminated the Knicks lol

However, I'm unwilling to bet anything on jb's post season coaching ability.

We could handle them and JB could have improved, those are not mutually exclusive.

I guess it just really depends what you think that looks like.

jb had the worst offense in the 2023 playoffs (101.9 ortg)

jb had a bottom 3 offense in the 2024 playoffs (104.7 ortg)

So are you saying the Pistons will have above a 104.7 ortg? Or saying the Pistons just won't be dead last (or maybe not bottom 3) in offense of the 16 playoff teams?

I'm saying that JB could do everything right, and we could still lock them down because we're just more talented. Beasley, Timmy, and Tobi were huge for them this year, but all 3 see their %s dip in the playoffs by 2-3%. Cade was a beast but has never been in the playoffs before. There will be fewer transition opportunities, and with Mitch back we could dominate the paint. So their offense could dry up without their coaching staff making a single wrong decision.

[cgf]

Doing my all-time rankings again, and Towns is at an inflection point for his career. He's 29.

I have him at 139th this morning, but he's next to guys like Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Tyson Chandler, and Mookie Blaylock. He's obviously more talented than these guys (King excepted) and will zoom past them, but how high can he go? Can he push into the top 75 before he hangs up his sneakers? Higher? The Playoffs is where reputations are made. Has he matured into a true 1b, the kind of player who can occasionally be a 1a in the highest pressure situations? Or will he fade like the wallflower he too often was in Minnesota? It's time to find out...

Man, I know injuries ruined him, but seeing King amongst those other names hurts my soul.

Healthy prime Bernard King today is the best player in the NBA outside of Denver.

Facts. Put a prime King on these Knicks and we'd win 3 (or more) rings before the end of the decade *sigh* arguably the best player this team has ever had, got the least help we've given any of our franchise legends.