arl-Anthony Towns was aggressive early and Jalen Brunson was effective late.
Towns scored 11 of his 31 points in the first quarter and Brunson had 12 of his 30 in the fourth to help the New York Knicks hold on for a 118-116 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
“I thought the way we started the game was much better,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And, we made timely plays down the stretch.”