Cade Cunningham takes over in Jalen Brunson-led Knicks' Game 2 loss to Pistons

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson were the best players on the floor in the New York Knicks' Game 2 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

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Apr 21, 2025 - 20:31
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Cade Cunningham takes over in Jalen Brunson-led Knicks' Game 2 loss to Pistons

The Knicks dropped Game 2 to the Detroit Pistons as Cade Cunningham took over in Monday's 100-94 final at MSG.

Takeaways

  1. Cunningham was arguably the best player on the floor. After OG Anunobydominated Cunningham in Game 1, Cunningham came out firing and willed the Pistons to a 1-1 series. He scored 20 of his team-high 33 points in the first half, aggressively getting high-percentage shots, as Detroit built a 55-49 advantage into the third quarter and ultimately did not relinquish the lead over the final 24 minutes. To have a chance at upsetting the Knicks in the first round's 6-3 matchup, the Pistons need Cunningham -- who added 12 rebounds across 41 minutes -- to rise up and he did just that with his Game 2 breakout.
  2. Conversely, Anunoby is not going to win every battle as the war against Cunningham continues. As such, the Knicks need their stars to collectively answer Cunningham's surges. Among them, Karl-Anthony Towns must show more. The big man and co-star to captain Jalen Brunson, who paced New York with a heroic game-high 37 points in 44 minutes, totaled 10 points and sixrebounds across 33 minutes. Towns was a shell of himself when the Knicks had a chance to put the Pistons down.
  3. Tobias Harris, who was among Detroit's efforts in limiting Towns, is proving to be a legitimate threat to the Knicks. After a team-high 25 points in Game 1, Harris complemented Cunningham among the Pistons' leading Game 2 scorers with 15. Cunningham makes Detroit go, but Harris has given New York a real fit in the first two games.
  4. Elsewhere, off the bench, Dennis Schroder was the Pistons' riser to know with 20 points in 29 minutes. After Cam Paynecatalyzed the Knicks in Game 1, fueling a fourth-quarter surge, he came back down to earth with his scoreless four minutes. In fact, New York's bench was scoreless outside of Miles McBride's eight points in 13 minutes. While Mikal Bridges mostly stepped his game up as he scored 19 points in 38 minutes, the reality is that the Knicks had nowhere near the amount of support to match Cunningham and the Pistons.

Who's the MVP?

Cunningham. Brunson was sensational, but the Pistons do not beat the Knicks in Game 2 without Cunningham.

Highlights

What's next

Game 3 is Thursday at 7 p.m. in Detroit. The Pistons also host Game 4 Sunday at 1 p.m. before the series returns to New York for a to-be-determined tipoff Tuesday.

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