The NBA All-Star break can’t come fast enough. The Knicks are all banged-up, and a week’s worth of rest and recovery is exactly what the doctor ordered at Madison Square Garden.
So is Jose Alvarado, because the home team could use his legs effective immediately.
The Knicks entered Friday’s matchup against the Detroit Pistons with Karl-Anthony Towns (eye), OG Anunoby (right toe soreness) and Miles McBride (core muscle surgery) on the injury list. They watched Josh Hart play through a left ankle ailment, only to tweak it further in the third quarter and exit the game before the final period of a 118-80 rout at the hands of the No. 1-seeded Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.
The Pistons were without their bruising first-time All-Star center Jalen Duren, but his absence didn’t stop Detroit from imposing its physical game plan against Jalen Brunson, who shot 4-of-20 from the field for 12 points and four assists on the night. With Towns out of the rotation, Mikal Bridges–after a five-point performance in Wednesday’s win over the Denver Nuggets–stepped up offensively for 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, but the Knicks struggled to generate offense elsewhere: Hart posted five points, six rebounds and two assists before limping off the court. Mitchell Robinson and rookie Mohamed Diawara started in place of Towns and Anunoby and combined to score just eight points.
And the Knicks watched their eight-game winning streak come to an end in Detroit before a noon tipoff in Boston against the Celtics on Super Bowl Sunday.
Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham needed just 22 minutes to steer Detroit to its 38th victory of the season. Cunningham shot just 4-of-11 from the field for 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Tobias Harris and Isaiah Stewart scored 15 points apiece, but the Knicks lost control of the game when Detroit’s second unit turned the momentum late in the first quarter. The Pistons got more than half of their total points from the bench as Daniss Jenkins scored 18 on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and Paul Reed added 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
The Knicks are now down, 0-2, to the Pistons with an average margin of defeat of 34.5 points after their 31-point loss in Detroit on Jan. 5. New York’s third and final meeting with the Pistons comes on Feb. 19, the Knicks’ first game out of the All-Star break.
Brown said he’s not surprised by the Pistons’ ascent to the East’s top seed.
“It’s great. They did a good job with it. They obviously drafted well and tried to develop the right pieces. From afar, that’s what it looks like, and when they hired [head coach] J.B. [Bickerstaff], I just knew it was going to happen because of who he is and his relationships with players and all that other good stuff,” he said ahead of tipoff on Friday. “So, they’re set up for a long time. With players and with J.B. as their head coach, as young as their players are, they can go on a long, long, long run.”
Luckily for the Knicks, reinforcements are en route. The Leon Rose-led front office traded Guerschon Yabusele to the Chicago Bulls for Dalen Terry, then flipped Terry alongside a pair of second-round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for the Brooklyn-born Alvarado, who projects to slide seamlessly into the hole McBride leaves needing surgery to repair a core muscle injury.
Alvarado is a capable shooter and a pest on defense who averaged eight points and three assists for the Pelicans this season.
“I think he just brings a level of toughness to the team. His energy is unmatched. What he can do defensively in the full court and in the front court, especially on the ball, on the pick and roll and stuff like that,” Brown said ahead of tipoff on Friday. “We want to play fast, and he’s a guy that we believe would come in and help push the pace and get us into our offense and all that other stuff, because he’s quick. He’s got a low center of gravity, and he’s been around for a while. So, excited to have him.”
The Pistons, too, made their own trade deadline move, dealing scoring guard Jaden Ivey to the Chicago Bulls in a three-team trade bringing sharpshooter Kevin Huerter to Detroit. Huerter, who played under Brown’s Sacramento Kings, checked into the game for the Pistons in the fourth quarter with Detroit nursing a 30-point lead and made his first basket with his new team with just over six minutes left in the final frame.
“He can shoot it, but his IQ, his feel, especially offensively, it’s second to none. He can pass it. He can handle it. Not only can he pass it, he can play make and then he can shoot it from all three levels,” Brown said of Huerter ahead of tipoff. “And then defensively, he’s bigger and longer than what you think, and he understands angles. So, he’s going to give you some problems on that end of the floor if you’re not careful.
“But great, great human being, and he’s definitely a winner. So, for Detroit to pick him up, that’s a win-win, probably for both sides. Because Kevin, I know I can imagine, Kevin is probably excited to be here.”
The Knicks have three games left until the All-Star break: Sunday in Boston, followed by a home-road back-to-back hosting the Indiana Pacers before visiting the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. Though Brunson and Towns will spend at least part of the break in Los Angeles as Eastern Conference All-Stars, time off the court is what’s needed for the Knicks to make their playoff push.
