NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart stood at the scorer’s table, watching the Detroit Pistons extend their lead in the closing minutes of Game 5 and waiting to check in, waiting for the chance to try to turn the tide.
And they just kept waiting.
Neither Brunson nor Hart were on the floor when Cade Cunningham dribbled across the timeline, took a high screen from center Jalen Duren and drove to his left. The Pistons’ All-Star point guard kept Miles McBride on his hip, attacked Karl-Anthony Towns in the paint and lofted in a runner over the Knicks’ big man, giving visiting Detroit a six-point lead over the Knicks with 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.