Common sense, logic and a strong dose of reality may suggest there is a better chance of discovering life on Saturn than seeing the Knicks make a legitimate playoff push.
No matter, said interim coach Kurt Rambis. He stressed early Saturday he wants his guys to play with arrogance.
Well, even with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined by a bruised lower leg, the Knicks went out and ripped Detroit, 102-89, at the Garden in a solid two-way effort.
“We brought it on both ends,” said double-double guy Carmelo Anthony (24 points, 10 rebounds), one of three Knicks to score 20. “I told the guys to try to get it going while I try to figure out this game and get myself going.”
Guys got it going. Robin Lopez (21 points, nine rebounds) and Arron Afflalo (20 points, seven rebounds, 7-of-7 first-half shooting) did the early heavy lifting, and 10-point scorers Derrick Williams, who started for Porzingis, and Kyle O’Quinn also had big moments — which was more than the Pistons could say.
“We should all be disappointed. It was ridiculous,” Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We were just terrible. We didn’t bring an energy to the game. We didn’t play well at either end. It was an embarrassing performance.”
So no offense, no defense, no energy and a 47-42 deficit on the boards for the NBA’s third-best rebounding team. Still, the Pistons, who received 21 points and 16 rebounds from Andre Drummond and 18 points from Long Island product Tobias Harris, gave the Knicks a few white-knuckle moments.
And that’s beyond the fact there was no Porzingis and that the Knicks had lost 16 of 19 games, and the last time the Knicks beat a winning team was Jan. 12.
The Knicks led by 15 at halftime and by 16 in the third quarter. But the Knicks’ last third-quarter score was at 2:04, and Steve Blake (13 points) buried a couple 3-pointers to help Detroit get to 79-70 entering the fourth quarter. Detroit eventually pulled to within 81-77. There were audible groans from the crowd. But O’Quinn hit a jumper at 9:21, and after a Detroit brick, Afflalo sank a huge 3-pointer at 8:46 for an 86-77 lead.
“I looked down the bench and saw my teammates cheering. So I knew something good happened,” O’Quinn said.
From there, the Knicks coasted to just their fourth win in 20 games by dominating both ends.
“We have been trying to make a concerted effort plugging the paint,” Afflalo said, praising the defense that checked Detroit to 39.1 shooting. “It is a collective effort of the entire team focusing on the paint and keeping the guards out of the paint.”
That was the idea going in and that was the intent all night.
“What I complimented the team on adhering to the game plan, that we stayed aggressive at both ends of the court,” Rambis said, praising the “pace and rhythm” the Knicks employed on offense and noting defensively the intent to clog the paint all night worked well.
“We did a good job of moving the ball and recognizing who was open when they doubled,” Lopez said. “Before the game, we were preaching having everybody inside the key and guarding inside-out.
“Whenever Detroit made a run, we usually had a pretty good response.”
With Anthony or Lopez or Afflalo or Williams or a bench guy. Except for a few moments Rambis described as wobbly, the Knicks found a way. Of course, the Pistons helped by shooting like they were blindfolded with their hands in cement.
“It makes it easier and it helps me step away from it and approach the game from a different perspective,” Anthony said. “Guys like Arron can get it going early. Robin got it going. Derrick Williams was a different guy in the lineup, and when he’s pushing the pace, getting out in transition, it makes the game easier.”
Almost to the point of being smug.