Towns scores 31, Brunson has 30 and Knicks beat Pistons for a 2-1 lead in series

By Canadian Press on April 24, 2025.

DETROIT (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points, Jalen Brunson had 30 and the New York Knicks held on for a 118-116 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

OG Anunoby added 22 points for New York. Game 4 is on Sunday in Detroit.

The Pistons have lost eight straight home playoff games since 2008, pulling within one of an NBA record set by Philadelphia from 1968 to 1971.

When Detroit won at New York in Game 2, the franchise ended a league-record, 15-playoff game losing streak to take home-court advantage, but the Knicks snatched it back.

Brunson, who won the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award on Wednesday, made consecutive layups late in the game to give the Knicks a seven-point lead.

Tim Hardaway Jr. connected on a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left to pull the Pistons within three.

Brunson made one of two free throws with 3.5 seconds left for a four-point lead after Detroit’s coaches, players and fans were screaming for an over-and-back violation to be called. The All-Star guard made another free throw with 0.5 seconds left and missed the second intentionally.

Detroit didn’t get a final shot off because Jalen Duren’s pass from in front of his team’s bench went out of bounds on the other side of the court.

THUNDER 114, GRIZZLIES 108

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Chet Holmgren scored all but one of his 24 points in the second half as Oklahoma City rallied from a 29-point deficit after Ja Morant left the game with a hip injury and beat Memphis for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Morant was hurt with just over three minutes left in the first half and Memphis leading 67-40. They got the next basket after he exited and still led by 26 points at halftime.

The 29-point comeback was the second-largest in an NBA postseason game since play-by-play data began being recorded in the 1996-97 season.

The only one bigger: A comeback from 31 points down by the Los Angeles Clippers against Golden State on April 15, 2019.

The top-seeded Thunder, who won Game 1 131-80 in the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason history, didn’t even have a lead in this one until the fourth quarter. Now, they can close out the series Saturday.

CLIPPERS 117, NUGGETS 83

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Los Angeles rolled to a victory over Nikola Jokic and Denver to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

James Harden and Norman Powell added 20 points apiece in the first playoff game at the new Intuit Dome, where Clippers superfans sitting in The Wall section closest to Denver’s bench wore horse hats mocking Jokic’s love of the animal.

After the teams split the first two games in Denver — a pair of nail-biters decided by a combined five points — this one was a blowout. Both teams cleared their benches in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

Game 4 is Saturday at the flashy and tech-heavy Inglewood arena, the dream creation of Clippers billionaire owner Steve Ballmer. He animatedly clapped his hands and pumped his fist from his seat near his team’s bench.

The Associated Press

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