The New York Knicks‘ agonizing wait for a home playoff series win, now stretching 9,454 days, grew heavier after a 106-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 on April 29, 2025, at Madison Square Garden. Star guard Jalen Brunson struggled, scoring 16 points on 4-for-16 shooting, including 1-for-4 from three and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, with seven assists, four turnovers, and four fouls in 36 minutes. The Pistons, who’ve dominated the Knicks at MSG this season with four wins in five games, extended New York’s 26-year close-out game drought.
Since their last home series-clinching victory on June 11, 1999, against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals (90-82), the Knicks have gone 0-7 in close-out games at MSG, per Basketball-Reference. Honoring the late Dick Barnett, a Knicks icon, couldn’t inspire a breakthrough.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham dazzled with 24 points and eight assists, while Tobias Harris added 17 points. “We came to fight and left it all out there,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, praising their resilience.
Brunson’s 4-for-16 flop keeps Knicks’ Playoff curse alive
Brunson, the 2024-25 NBA Clutch Player of the Year, has averaged 33.9 points in the series, but Detroit’s Ausar Thompson disrupted him with 14 ball screens, limiting him to 25% shooting.
“He’s trying to draw fouls, but we’re staying disciplined,” Thompson said. Brunson’s four turnovers, including a costly late-game mistake, sealed the Knicks’ fate. “We didn’t execute when it mattered,” coach Tom Thibodeau admitted.
The Knicks, leading the series 3-2, got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns, but their 33.6% three-point shooting over the last five games, faltered. Detroit’s league-leading 14.7 forced turnovers per game, capitalized on New York’s errors. The Pistons’ MSG dominance, including a 118-112 regular-season win on November 30, 2024, has flipped home-court expectations, with fans on X venting frustration over the “same old Knicks” narrative.
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