The Detroit Pistons tied up their first-round series against the New York Knicks with a 100-94 win in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t happy with the officiating on the night and stated postgame that Jalen Brunson should be getting the same treatment that Cade Cunningham gets.
“Obviously, huge discrepancy in free throws,” Thibodeau said. “Huge. I gotta take a look at that, right? So, I don’t understand how on one side you talk about direct line drives, the guy’s getting fouled and it’s not being called, right?
“And look, I really don’t give a crap how they call the game as long as it’s consistent on both sides,” Thibodeau added. “So, if Cunningham’s driving and there’s marginal contact and he’s getting to the line. Then Jalen deserves to be getting to the line, it’s really that simple.”
Cunningham had 33 points (11-21 FG), 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals against the Knicks. He went 10-12 from the line, and the Pistons as a team were 28-34. The Knicks, meanwhile, went 16-19, and Thibodeau wasn’t happy about that huge discrepancy.
The Knicks had shot just two free throws entering halftime, while Cunningham was at six by himself. Chants of “refs you suck” could be heard as Knicks fans expressed their displeasure with the officiating.
The Knicks got most of their free throws in the fourth quarter, as they went 11-13 from the line in the period. Brunson got more than half of those, as he went 5-7 from the charity stripe in the fourth. He ended up shooting 11 free throws in this game, which was just one fewer than Cunningham.
For the series, Brunson has now shot 21 free throws compared to 17 for Cunningham, but Thibodeau believes he deserves more calls. The two-time All-Star certainly tried his best to get more, as he was widely accused of flopping on numerous occasions in Game 2.
Brunson has earned a reputation for it by now, with Bill Simmons calling him the best flopper in the NBA. The 28-year-old doesn’t get as many calls as one might think, though.
Brunson averaged 6.9 free throws per game during the regular season, ranking just outside the top 10 at 11th. He did make more trips on average than Cunningham, though, who ranked 26th with 5.3 attempts per game.
Both Cunningham and Brunson have gone to the line more in this series than they did in the regular season. You’d expect that number to go down as the officials allow teams to be a bit more physical in the postseason, but that’s not been the case for these two.
Brunson finished Game 2 with 37 points (12-27 FG), three rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. It was his second-straight 30-point game in this series, but he wasn’t able to lead the Knicks to victory here as he did in Game 1.
Brunson had 12 points in the fourth quarter in Game 1 to help the Knicks pull away late. He had 14 in the final period in Game 2, but the Pistons held on and snatched home-court advantage.
The Pistons now have momentum on their side as the series switches to Detroit. Game 3 will be played at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday at 7 PM ET.
