For the Detroit Pistons to contend for an Eastern Conference playoff spot, they would seemingly need to beat up on teams like the NBA-worst New York Knicks.
Especially at home, and especially when leading by 18 at one point.
That did not happen Friday, as the Knicks rallied and won in double overtime 121-115 to steal a game that featured 14 lead changes and 15 ties.
Langston Galloway forced the first OT with a 3-pointer, Shane Larkin scored nine of his 16 points in the second OT and Andrea Bargnani finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Knicks snapped an eight-game skid in unlikely fashion.
Greg Monroe led Detroit with 28 points and added 13 rebounds, but he missed a key free throw late in the first OT. Andre Drummond also recorded a double- double with 21 points and 15 boards, but the Pistons ended a five-game homestand (2-3) on a sour note.
The Knicks were leading 82-79 before the tide appeared to turn for good in a seesaw fourth quarter. Detroit scored 12 of the next 14 points to go up 91-84 following Jodie Meeks' free throw, which came as result of a technical foul called on Knicks head coach Derek Fisher.
The Pistons, though, failed to finish it off in regulation, going scoreless over the final three minutes. New York opted to play defense down three with 31.4 seconds to play, and after Reggie Jackson missed an elbow jumper, Galloway raced down and drained a 3 from well beyond the arc with 6.3 ticks showing.
New York double-teamed Jackson and forced Anthony Tolliver into a contested 28-footer that had no chance of going in at the buzzer.
Neither team led by more than two in the first OT, and Lou Amundson's tip-in of a Galloway miss broke a 103-103 tie with 29.6 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Monroe muscled Amundson on the left block and was fouled while hitting a turnaround. Monroe missed the subsequent free throw, however, and Tim Hardaway Jr. was long on a baseline jumper at the other end.
Larkin put New York ahead 115-111 with a three-point play with 28.0 seconds left in the second OT, and the Knicks held on from there.
The Pistons also appeared in control in the first half, going up by as many as 18, 51-33, on a Drummond tip-in late in the second quarter.
New York, which dropped its previous eight by an average of 14 points, cut the deficit to a dozen, 53-41, by halftime and even pulled ahead, 63-62, after Bargnani scored on three consecutive possessions in the third.
Despite shooting a pitiful 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from the field in the third, the Pistons still held a slim 69-66 edge entering the fourth.
Game Notes
The Pistons had won three straight meetings ... The Knicks had lost six straight on the road ... The Knicks made all but one of their 26 free throw attempts ... Amundson recorded 17 points and 14 rebounds ... Hardaway, who suffered a cut on his left eyebrow early on and received four stitches, totaled 18 points ... Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 19 points for the Pistons, who received 16 apiece from Jackson and Meeks.
[SportsNetwork.com]
