Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 100-94 Game 2 loss to the Pistons on Monday:
After a rough Game 1 in which he shot 8 of 21 from the field, Cade Cunningham bounced back with a huge Game 2 to carry the Pistons’ scoring load.
He got into the paint at will and finished with 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting.
OG Anunoby was magnificent on both ends of the floor in Game 1, but struggled on both in Game 2.
He finished with just 10 points, missed all four of his 3-point attempts and could not contain Cunningham the same way he did in Game 1.
Dennis Schröder finished with 20 points and hit key shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with 55.1 seconds left in the game to give the Pistons a three-point lead after the Knicks had tied it.
28: Number of free throws the Pistons made on 34 attempts, while the Knicks attempted a total of 19 — many of which came late — and made 16.
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“Obviously, huge discrepancy in free throws. Huge. I gotta take a look at that. I don’t understand how on one side, you talk about direct line drives, [Brunson] is getting fouled, it’s not being called. I really don’t give a crap how they call the game, as long as it’s consistent on both sides. If [Cade] Cunningham is driving and there’s marginal contact and he’s getting to the line, then Jalen deserves to be getting to the line. It’s really that simple.”