The Detroit Pistons had the Knicks on upset alert.
Three quarters into Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, the Pistons had turned yet another 3-point barrage into an eight-point lead at Madison Square Garden.
A tense sellout crowd was looking for a reason to explode.
And finally, the Knicks gave them just that.
A 21-0 run by the Knicks fueled an anything-but-easy 123-112 win on Saturday night, giving them a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Knicks trailed, 98-90, with 9:06 left in the fourth quarter when Cameron Payne kicked off the run by completing a lay-up through contact for a three-point play.
Jalen Brunson, who came up limping in the third quarter and briefly disappeared from the Knicks’ bench, returned — in a different pair of sneakers — before Payne shot his free throw.
“I think he grabbed his cape,” head coach Tom Thibodeau joked afterward.
Brunson made a floater on the next possession, and Payne followed with a 3-pointer to tie the game, 98-98. Brunson gave the Knicks the lead for good at the 7:16 mark when he finished an improbable shot through contact.
That began a torrid stretch in which the Knicks scored on 10 consecutive possessions — during which Payne drained another 3-pointer and Brunson added two more baskets.
Those late-game heroics were part of a 12-point fourth quarter by Brunson and an 11-point fourth quarter from Payne.
Brunson overcame a 2-for-13 start to finish with a game-high 34 points on 12-of-27 shooting.
The third-seeded Knicks (51-31) entered as favorites over sixth-seeded Detroit (44-38), despite the latter winning the regular-season series, 3-1, and shooting 41.3% from 3-point range in those head-to-head meetings.
Saturday marked the postseason debuts of Pistons starters Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, and that inexperience showed early as the Knicks jumped out to a 10-3 lead.
Thompson, the Pistons’ go-to defender tasked with limiting Brunson, picked up two fouls in a 27-second span. He went to the bench with 9:21 left in the first quarter and did not return until the 8:04 mark of the second.
It was a particularly slow start for Cunningham, a first-time All-Star, who had torched the Knicks to the tune of 30.8 points per game in their prior four meetings.
Cunningham managed only six points on 3-of-10 shooting in the first half, with OG Anunoby operating as his primary defender after Mikal Bridges held that role during the regular season.
The extra attention on Cunningham, however, repeatedly led to open 3-pointers for Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. The Pistons shot 9-of-18 from 3-point range in the first half and trailed, 57-55, at the break.
The Pistons remained hot in the third quarter, outscoring the Knicks 36-26, and took a 91-83 lead into the fourth. They had shot 13-of-24 on 3-pointers to that point.
But that’s when Brunson and company took over, outscoring Detroit 40-21 in the fourth.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anunoby finished with 23 points apiece, while Payne added 14 off the bench.
Cunningham finished with 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting with six rebounds and 12 assists. Tobias Harris led Detroit with 25 points. The Pistons finished 15-of-32 on 3-point attempts.
It was the 15th consecutive playoff loss for the Pistons, who are appearing in the postseason for the first time since 2019. Detroit finished an NBA-worst 14-68 last season, during which it lost a single-season record 28 consecutive games.
The ascensions of Cunningham and other recent lottery picks; the additions of veterans such as Harris and Hardaway; and the hiring of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff helped the Pistons become the first team in NBA history to triple its win total from one season to the next.
But they have their work cut out for them if they want their storybook season to continue.
The series continues Monday night, when the Knicks host Game 2 at the Garden.
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