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Bickerstaff lauds 'superstar' Cunningham for earning Knicks win

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2 daysBasketball

J.B. Bickerstaff hailed Cade Cunningham's "superstar" performance as he helped the Detroit Pistons end their record postseason skid against the New York Knicks.

The Pistons triumphed 100-94 on Monday thanks to Dennis Schroder's tie-breaking 3-pointer with less than a minute left, earning them a first playoff win in 17 years.

Detroit had lost 15 straight postseason contests prior to that, the longest such losing streak in NBA history, with their last such victory coming over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the 2008 East finals (94-75).

The series is now level at 1-1 after Game 2, with Cade Cunningham leading the team with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Tobias Harris (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Jalen Duren (12 points, 13 rebounds) also posted double-doubles.

And Bickerstaff was delighted with how Cunningham, who became the first Piston to record 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in a playoff game since Chauncey Billups in 2004, stepped up to the plate.

"He was elite," Bickerstaff said. "He played the game tonight as a superstar.

"He did what he needed to do to help the team win.

"We don't have guys who give in… who make excuses. We just have guys that show up every single day and lay it on the line for one another. It's a special group.

"We got bigger things we're out here for. So, our focus, and that's why our guys have been able to grow and be consistent, because they just think about the now, and I thought they did a great job of staying in the moment and doing what we needed to do."

Detroit will host their first home playoff game since 2019 in Thursday’s Game 3, something Cunningham is relishing.

"It's a great feeling," he said. "It feels good to represent the city like we did tonight.

"It's something that the city [has] been waiting on for a long time, so we feel good about it, and we're ready to get back to the crib and perform in front of them."

The Knicks struggled to get to the line early, while the Pistons owned a 14-2 free-throw advantage in the first half, finishing 34-19 at the line by the end of the game.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was frustrated by the officials, questioning their calls.

"Huge discrepancy in free throws. Huge," he said.

"I don't understand how, on one side, there are direct line drives with contact that just aren't being called.

"Look, I really don't give a crap how they call the game as long as it's consistent on both sides. But if Cunningham's driving, and there's marginal contact that gets him to the line, then Jalen [Brunson] should be getting to the line."