New York — The Pistons dropped their first game of the season in a 130-106 loss to the New York Knicks on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
By halftime the Pistons were down by 20, which made it hard to compete throughout the rest of the game. Saddiq Bey scored a team-high 26 points. Immanuel Quickley led the Knicks off the bench with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Here are six takeaways from the road opener, ahead of Saturday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
▶ Saddiq’s shoots well: Let’s start with the good. Bey’s 26 points and seven rebounds paced the Pistons. He knocked down four of his eight attempts from 3-point land, and two of those makes were corner triples made possible by Jaden Ivey’s playmaking. After the game, Bey said the Pistons didn’t match the Knicks’ physicality during the first quarter, leading to a ripple effect for the remainder of the matchup.
“I think we got punched in the mouth throughout the rest of the game,” Bey said.
▶ Knicks’ bench: The Knicks had six players tally over double figures in scoring against the Pistons, and three of those players were reserves. New York guard Immanuel Quickley scored a team-high 20 points. Highflying Obi Toppin had fans in The Garden roaring with several dunks, part of his 16-point performance. Lastly, veteran guard Derrick Rose accounted for 13 points and six assists. Most of his damage came from the 3-point line as he knocked down three from outside the arc. Isaiah Hartenstein added six points, but dominated the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds. The Knicks’ bench outscored the Pistons’ bench, 64-22.
▶ Ivey’s vision. Pistons guard Jaden Ivey commands so much attention when he puts his head down and attacks the basket that it creates open easy opportunities for his teammates from the 3-point line. On back-to-back possessions to begin the game, Ivey found Bey in one corner and Bojan Bogdanovic in the other for triples. He racked up his third assist shortly later as he lobbed a pass to Stewart for an alley-oop. Ivey was one assist shy of recording his first double-double, finishing with 17 points and nine assists.
▶ Team’s foul trouble: Jalen Duren picked up two fouls within one minute of his action in the first quarter after going the entire Pistons season opener without committing a foul. Despite finishing with four fouls, he still grabbed 10 rebounds. Ivey also got in foul trouble, picking up four himself. Killian Hayes tallied four fouls as well. The Pistons’ foul trouble affected their rotations throughout the night.
▶ Lob city: Obi Toppin tapped an offensive rebound back to Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, who tossed the ball right back up in the air to Toppin for a reverse slam. It was a theme of the night as the Knicks converted on lob after lob on Friday. RJ Barrett connected with Mitchell Robinson in the pick-and-roll early in the game for a two-handed slam. Obi Toppin threw a pass into the air in transition to Cam Reddish for a two-handed dunk. The Pistons gave up 58 points inside the paint, including 20 points off fast breaks. It’s an area that needs to be cleaned up as the season progresses.
mcurtis@detroitnews.comTwitter: @MikeACurtis2