Knicks Takeaways from Tuesday's 105-92 loss to Pistons

Smith Jr. drained 25 points in the his best game with the Knicks thus far

2/6/2019, 3:12 AM
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Led by PF Blake Griffin, the Pistons took down the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, 105-92, for the team's 14th straight loss. >> Box score

Things to know about Tuesday's game

1) Dennis Smith Jr. had his best game as a Knick so far, dropping 25 points on 11-for-25 shooting with six assists and five rebounds as well. Being the Knicks' primary source of offense tonight, this could be the role Smith plays for the rest of the season, especially since he was in a lot of 1-on-1 situations. Fizdale clearly wants to see Smith's offensive gifts for himself, and he got that tonight.

2) Mitchell Robinson had a solid night off the bench, scoring 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. That long wingspan saw more alley-oop throwdowns, and with 10 rebounds, he collected another double-double on his rookie campaign.

3) As mentioned above, Griffin was too much for the Knicks to handle. He poured in a game-high 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three. He also had eight assists and six rebounds for Detroit.

4) Kevin Knox saw 34 minutes, but didn't have that much production as a starter. He had 11 points on a poor 4-for-12 shooting night. He went 2-of-6 from three, and collected seven boards as well. 

5) Andre Drummond had his way down low in this one. He had a game-high 16 rebounds and five blocks, and tallied a double-double with 17 points. 

6) As a team, the Knicks shot 27.3 percent from deep (9-for-33), and that definitely won't get the job done. The Pistons weren't much better, though, at 35.3 percent (12-for-34).

Highlights


What's next

The Knicks hit the road on Friday for the second leg of a home-and-home with the Pistons at 7 p.m.

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