DETROIT — The Knicks have fired their head coach, fired their president and traded their best player for future assets.
Only Knicks owner James Dolan could intercept a season so resolutely.
Despite it all, the Knicks posted their season’s first four-game winning streak when they took out the Pistons, 95-92, on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena.
Incoming president Leon Rose was not in attendance and was spotted at the SMU-Temple game (Rose is a Temple graduate).
It was the Knicks’ first win in Motown since 2015 and first triumph in the Pistons’ 3-year-old downtown palace.
Backup shooting guard Wayne Ellington, who before the game said he may want a buyout, poured in 17 points off the bench. His 3-pointer with 4:43 left tied the score at 84.
The Knicks’ offense had trouble making up for the loss of Marcus Morris, traded Thursday.
Julius Randle had a rough shooting night until late when he came on. Randle shot 7-of-17, including a 3-point airball midway through the fourth quarter.
However, he came up big in the final minutes, finishing with 17 points, including a wild game-sealing hook with 13.5 seconds left, though replays showed he bashed Detroit’s Thon Maker in the mouth. The play surprisingly was not reviewed by coach Dwane Casey.
Randle also made a hustling save of an out of-bounds ball with 36 seconds left a miss Ellington jumper.
Rookie RJ Barrett, in his second game back from an ankle sprain and first in the starting lineup, was off kilter. After missing his first five shots, Barrett finished with three points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Center Mitchell Robinson made an impact on defense with three blocks and a key offensive rebound with 20 seconds to go. Elfrid Payton scored 10 points, had six assists and nine rebounds, making a key runner in the lane with 1:30 left, putting the Knicks up by two.
Reggie Bullock’s two free throws with 7.3 seconds gave the Knicks a three-point lead, and Detroit’s Reggie Jackson bricked a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Interim coach Mike Miller didn’t use newcomer Maurice Harkless because he didn’t know enough plays and was travel-weary.
Morris did not play for the Clippers on Saturday, though he didn’t sound so heartbroken. The Clippers had offered him a free-agent contract in July.
“Obviously last summer things didn’t go the way I thought it would, but we here now, $15 million richer,’’ Morris told reporters in Los Angeles.
Source: Read Full Article