The New York Knicks secured a 123-112 win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night. Tom Thibodeau’s team is now three wins away from booking its place in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Throughout the game, the Knicks were successful in shutting down Cade Cunningham. The Pistons guard went 8-of-21 from the field and 1-of-4 from deep. When speaking to the media after the game, Josh Hart provided a three-word answer as to how the Knicks put the clamps down on Cunningham.
“Yeah,” Hart said, regarding if he knew how the Knicks limited Cunningham’s impact. “OG Anunoby”
According to NBA matchup data, Anunoby guarded Cunningham for a total of 9 minutes and 47 seconds. During that time, Cunningham went 2-of-8 from the floor and dished out four assists. Anunoby found ways to consistently limit the impact of Detroit’s best player, which in turn, put pressure on the rest of Detroit’s roster.
Anunoby joined the Knicks roster in December 2023. He signed a contract extension with the franchise last summer. New York knew it was getting one of the better perimeter defenders in the NBA when it parted with RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to bring the champion forward into the franchise. Against Detroit, Anunoby reminded everybody of his value.
Knicks’ Cameron Payne Impressed
Cameron Payne also enjoyed a strong outing against the Pistons. He came off the bench to score 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, with three of those makes coming on the perimeter.
After the game, Payne spoke on what his performance meant to him.
“I’ve been kind of waiting on this game and how I played today all year,” Payne said. “I’m grateful. I thank God for everything that happened tonight. I’m just grateful to be still playing in the league, honestly.”
Payne played in 72 regular-season games for the Knicks during the 2024-25 campaign. He averaged 6.9 points, 2.8 assists and 1.3 rebounds. His floor spacing and ability to initiate an offense will be big pluses for a Knicks team looking for an additional punch off the bench.
“Reserved guard Cameron Payne was the big reason the Knicks won,” NBA legend Magic Johnson posted on X after the game.
Knicks Urged to Lean on P.J. Tucker
In an April 17 episode of his “7 PM in Brooklyn” podcast, Kincks’ legend Carmelo Anthony pinpointed P.J. Tucker as a potential swing factor in the series against Detroit.
“We got to be ready to crash out in a way, controlled crash out,” Anthony said. “If [head coach Tom Thibodeau] utilized PJ, you could throw PJ in there to go battle [Jalen] Duren and [Isaiah] Stewart. P’s ready, that’s his type of game. He loves that type of physical [stuff], he loves when the game just goes and he can [mess] somebody up…He also knows the playoffs, he knows how to navigate. I just hope gets a shot. At least give him a shot.”
Tucker didn’t see the court in the opening meeting between the two teams. However, playoff series are long and arduous. As such, there’s still plenty of time for Tucker to be given some minutes and for him to make his presence felt. After all, Tucker has championship experience and thrives in physical matchups.
If Thibodeau is looking for someone to set the tone in game two, Tucker could be a good choice.
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