DETROIT — With 0.5 seconds left and the Knicks main by two, Jalen Brunson deliberately missed his second free throw.
Attributable to a mistake by the timekeeper, it almost let the Pistons get off a possible game-winning shot.
The clock began as quickly because the ball hit the rim, as an alternative of when a participant touched it. By rule, an inadvertent whistle provides possession to the group who grabbed the rebound. Detroit wound up getting a free timeout out of the error.
Nevertheless, the Pistons threw the ball away, and the Knicks survived with a 118-116 Sport 3 victory to take a 2-1 lead within the opening-round sequence.
“We’re in Detroit, bro. What did you expect?” Josh Hart mentioned. “They’d the home-court benefit. That’s instance A of home-court benefit.
“He missed it on purpose. I guess that’s the reason why you go ahead and make it, because they’re going to give them a shot.”
Requested if he thought the scorer’s desk did it on objective, Hart joked: “We’re in Detroit, bro. What do you think?”
Coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned he didn’t obtain a proof from the officers.
“It doesn’t seem right to me,” he mentioned. “It’s unfortunate. That should never happen ever in a playoff game. Never happen.”
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The Knicks will probably be going abroad subsequent preseason.
They are going to play preseason video games in Abu Dhabi in opposition to the 76ers on Oct. 2 and 4, the league introduced on Thursday.
This marks the fourth consecutive 12 months that the NBA has performed preseason video games in Abu Dhabi.
It signed a cope with tourism officers in Abu Dhabi in 2021.
Brunson was named the NBA’s Clutch Participant of the 12 months on Wednesday night time, beating out Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves and Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets.
Brunson averaged an NBA-high 5.6 factors in clutch conditions, outlined as possessions within the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter or extra time when the rating is inside 5 factors.
He additionally led the league in area targets made (52) and ranked second in complete factors (156) and third in complete assists (28).
“It means a lot,” Brunson mentioned on Thursday. “It’s a credit to us winning close games and my teammates and coaches having my back.”
