Cade Cunningham's career night silences New York.
The New York Knicks came out of the All-Star break looking to prove they belong in the same conversation as the Detroit Pistons, but Cade Cunningham had other plans on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
He dropped 42 points with 13 assists and eight rebounds to lead Detroit to a 126-111 win.
This completed a regular season sweep of New York for the first time since the 2019-20 season and left Jalen Brunson with very little to say after the game.
"Just not up to our standards," Brunson said.
The Pistons Own the Knicks This Season
The Knicks have had a difficult year when it comes to matching up with Detroit.
The Pistons have won all three meetings this season by an average of nearly 28 points. Each game has followed a similar script, with Detroit taking control early and New York never finding an answer.
This began with the first meeting on January 5, when the Pistons won 121-90 without Josh Hart in the lineup, and continued with the February 6 game, during which Detroit cruised to a 118-80 win, which marked New York's lowest scoring output of the season.
Thursday's game at MSG was anticipated to be different due to the Knicks' full roster's health and their recent strong performance, which included eight of their last ten victories.
However, the absence of two key players, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, from the Pistons' lineup due to suspensions from a brawl against the Charlotte Hornets on February 9, did not detract from Cunningham's dominance as the MVP candidate he has emerged this season.
Cunningham has averaged 25.3 points and a league-leading 9.6 assists per game.
A Frustrating Night for Brunson
Brunson did his part on the scoring end with 33 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, but the Knicks could not stop Cunningham or slow down Detroit's attack on the other side of the ball, shooting just 23 percent from three-point range on 8-for-35 from beyond the arc.
This made it nearly impossible to keep up with a Pistons team that outscored the Knicks in all four quarters, even as Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort.
The loss drops the Knicks to 35-21 on the season, while the Pistons improve to 41-13 and hold firm as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Even though New York sits in third place in the East with enough talent to compete with anyone, the results against Detroit tell a different story that has fans worried about what could happen if these two teams meet again in the playoffs.
What Comes Next
With the regular season sweep now complete, the Knicks will not get another shot at Detroit until a potential playoff matchup.
For now, New York turns its attention to a home game against the Houston Rockets on Saturday as they look to put this one behind them and get back to playing at the level Brunson knows they are capable of reaching.