The final few seconds of the Game 3 battle between the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons were anything but typical. Karl Anthony-Towns felt good enough after his team’s victory to crack a joke after the Pistons landed in a favorable situation as they grew desperate.

Karl-Anthony Towns played a massive role in the New York Knicks‘ 118-116 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, April 24. Tom Thibodeau’s team now leads the first-round playoff series 2-1.Towns was aggressive on offense.

The New York Knicks are back in front in their best-of-seven NBA playoff series against the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks won Game 3 on Thursday, 118-116, as Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for 61 points during a chippy game in Detroit.

Let’s look at some trends that have played out in the first few contests between the Knicks and the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

Game 3 of the first-round series between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks was in its closing moments. With 0.5 seconds left in regulation and the Knicks up two, the buzzer sounded after Jalen Brunson intentionally missed a free throw while no Pistons player touched the ball.