Jalen Brunson poured in 36 points in the first three quarters and the New York Knicks continued their dominance of the host Detroit Pistons with a resounding 128-98 victory on Friday night.
The Knicks have won the last 16 meetings between the Eastern Conference clubs.
Brunson made 14 of 22 field goal attempts and added five assists. Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 44 points against Miami on Wednesday, supplied 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. OG Anunoby also had 21 points with six assists.
Mikal Bridges contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, while Josh Hart added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. New York grabbed 16 steals as a team.
The Pistons were coming off their first victory of the season, a road win at Philadelphia. Cade Cunningham led them on Friday with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists. Tobias Harris added 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
The Knicks rolled to a 39-13 lead in the first, scoring the quarter’s last 10 points. Brunson outscored the Pistons by himself with 15 points and Anunoby tossed in 11. Detroit committed seven turnovers in the first 12 minutes while shooting 6-for-21 from the field.
New York pushed the lead to 33 points early in the second quarter. Bridges drained a 3-pointer at the 8:08 mark for a 54-21 lead.
Detroit managed to cut the deficit to 69-46 by halftime as Malik Beasley knocked down a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. Brunson finished the half with 26 points, while Towns had 16. Cunningham led the Pistons with 12 points.
The Pistons couldn’t make much headway in the third. A Cunningham 3-pointer pulled them within 22 points, 90-68, with 5:19 left. The Knicks answered with 3-pointers from Bridges and Anunoby, followed by a layup from Miles McBride after he stole the ball from Jaden Ivey.
New York’s lead was still a hefty 104-74 when the quarter ended. The Knicks extended it to 38 by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter.
