New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau addressed his team’s narrow 106-103 defeat to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night by standing firm on his strategic choices down the stretch.
With the Knicks holding a 3-1 series lead heading into Game 5, their inability to close out the Pistons at Madison Square Garden has shifted momentum toward Detroit ahead of Game 6.
Speaking postgame, Thibodeau was asked about his decision not to call a timeout as Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart stood at the scorer’s table during a critical fourth-quarter stretch.
“Just where we were with our timeouts,” Thibodeau responded. “Coach’s decision.”
The Pistons, led by Cade Cunningham’s 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, surged late to avoid elimination, while Ausar Thompson chipped in 22 points on 80% shooting.
New York saw its lead evaporate as Mitchell Robinson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and OG Anunoby struggled to contain Detroit’s interior attack, with Jalen Duren posting 14 rebounds and 6 assists.
When asked about officiating consistency throughout the series, Thibodeau kept his response brief: “It is what it is.”
He acknowledged the difficulty of adjusting to a whistle that leaned toward lighter contact in Game 5 compared to earlier games.
“You got to adjust to the way they call it,” he said when prompted about the impact on his players.
Brunson, who had averaged over 33 points through the first four games, was held to 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting and missed a chunk of the final quarter due to injury.
Hart and Anunoby also exited temporarily, complicating substitution patterns and ball movement in crunch time.
When asked about the delay in reinserting players with one timeout remaining, Thibodeau pointed to multiple factors at play.
“You’re looking at time, score, penalty, timeouts — all of the above,” he said. “You feel like the next possession will put it away.”
Despite a double-double from Robinson off the bench and 17 points apiece from Towns and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks committed 13 turnovers and missed nearly 41% of their free throws.
Detroit closed the game on an 11-8 run, highlighted by Cunningham’s floater and a pair of Duren buckets to build a two-possession lead.
Asked about Hart’s status after leaving the game, Thibodeau said he had not yet spoken with the medical staff.
His message to the team heading into Game 6 was simple: “The challenge is to reset. Every game’s different. Take a look at the film, see what we could do better, and be ready to go next game.”
The Pistons will host Game 6 on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena, where they aim to end a 16-year home playoff drought.
