The Knicks dropped the opener of their second half of the season against the Pistons on Thursday night by a score of 126-111, losing all three games against Detroit this season.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Things started off well for New York with Jalen Brunson welcoming his team back from the All-Star break by nailing a three-pointer to put the Knicks up early. Brunson was doing it all in the beginning, hitting his shots, getting to the line and dishing out assists like the one he had by finding Mikal Bridges for a deep two from the corner that caused the Pistons to call a timeout.

-- Meanwhile, Detroit struggled to get things going and started 1-for-10 from the field before Cade Cunningham hit a three, which seemed to be the catalyst the Pistons needed. From there, Cunningham took over and with the help of Tobias Harris and Paul Reed, Detroit had a 21-8 spurt that gave the Pistons a lead they held on to for the duration of the quarter.

-- New York kept things close after Jose Alvarado checked into the game, which drew a nice applause from the MSG crowd, and immediately made his presence felt both defensively and offensively. Still, Alvarado probably wishes he had one back with 26.4 seconds left in the opening quarter when he had an open lane on a fast break but decided to give the ball up to the trailing Brunson before running into a defender and getting called for an offensive charge.

The quarter ended with Detroit up 28-26.

-- After trading baskets early in the second quarter to still be down by two, the offense for the Knicks just disappeared for nearly four minutes aside from some foul shots. But with the Pistons also struggling to find nylon during this time, New York's deficit remained steady.

-- Shots on both sides finally started going in and after Brunson hit two free throws with just over a minute to play in the quarter to cut it to 51-48, it looked like the game would go into halftime in a similar spot. However, Detroit ended the quarter on a 7-0 run in 62 seconds and held its largest lead of the night going into the locker rooms at 58-48. Cunningham was the biggest star and led all scorers with 24 first-half points.

-- As for the Knicks, following the Pistons' poor shooting start in the early going, it was New York who couldn't buy a three-pointer all throughout the first half, going 0-for-15 from downtown after Brunson's make to start the game. Other than Brunson (13 points), no other Knick scored in double-digits.

-- That at least changed after the break, with Karl-Anthony Towns getting way more involved in the offense and helping New York get back to within two early in the quarter and scoring 12 points in the frame, although he was subbed out for four minutes and didn't score again in the quarter once coming back in.

-- Without Towns, Brunson took control of the offense but had to contend with Cunningham, who continued his incredible offensive performance and matched Brunson at every turn to help Detroit outscore the Knicks, 32-31, in the quarter and head into the fourth with an 11-point lead.

-- Desperate for help offensively, New York couldn't find it anywhere with OG Anunoby and Bridges combining for 16 points, although Anunoby did have four blocks on the defensive side. The biggest aid to Brunson's 33 points, other than Towns, who finished with 21 points, came from Landry Shamet, who had 15 points in 28 minutes off the bench. The Knicks shot 23 percent from three-point range.

-- Regardless, Cunningham stole the show with his 42-point, 13-assist and eight-rebound night, which was his best game against New York this season, in which the Pistons swept the season series, 3-0.

-- Jeremy Sochan made his Knicks debut and had two points, one assist, one steal and one block in nine minutes.

Game MVP: Cade Cunningham

Cunningham dominated New York from the jump and imposed his will whenever he wanted.

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