Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 118-116 Game 3 win over the Pistons on Thursday night in Detroit:
Hero
After two days of abundant discourse that Karl-Anthony Towns needed more touches and shots on offense, he got here out more aggressive than he had been all series.
He finished with 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the sphere and 4-of-8 from 3-point range together with eight rebounds.
Zero
Tobias Harris scored 25 and 15 points, respectively, in the primary two games of the series, but he was a whole no-show Thursday night with just two points on 1-of-8 shooting from the sphere.
And he struggled on defense against Towns, prompting the Pistons to place Jalen Duren on the Knicks big man.
Unsung hero
OG Anunoby bounced back from his Game 2 dud, ending with 22 points.
He was also strong defending Cade Cunningham, holding him to 24 points on 10-of-25 shooting from the sphere together with six turnovers.
Key stat
53: Years because the Knicks had 4 players (Hall of Famers Clyde Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere) rating 20 points or more in a playoff game, in response to MSG.
