NEW YORK — Cade Cunningham has arrived. 

The Detroit Pistons’ superstar, in Madison Square Garden with the nation watching and many famous actors, athletes and musicians in attendance, put on a show. The New York Knicks were hapless as he terrorized their crew of long-armed wings with an array of spins, stepbacks and drives right through their bodies. 

The historic building, with the rowdiest fans in the league, was quieted and humbled by the end of the night. 

More: Welcome back, Detroit Pistons: We have a series after crazy upset of New York Knicks

It wasn’t just a win for the Pistons, but a historic moment. Cunningham finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds, and the Pistons captured their first playoff victory in nearly 18 years, defeating the Knicks 100-94 in their own arena to tie the series, 1-1. 

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

The former No. 1 pick, in his fourth season, took a significant step toward fulfilling the promise that he made to the city of Detroit — that the franchise would return to its winning ways. Only a season removed from 14 wins and 28-straight losses, Cunningham is reshaping his legacy and making a firm case for himself as one of the league’s top players. 

“It’s a great feeling, man,” he said after the win. “It feels good to represent the city like we did tonight. It’s something the city’s 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 Pistons had lost 15 straight playoff games entering Monday, the longest drought without a win in NBA history. Their last win was May 26, 2008, when they defeated the Boston Celtics 94-75 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. To overcome the Knicks, they needed a big night from Cunningham and better defensive execution to rebound from Saturday’s 123-112 loss in Game 1. 

Cunningham shot just 8-for-21 overall Saturday, finishing with 21 points and 12 assists while dealing with the Knicks’ persistent defensive scheme. They met him with two defenders out of screens, and OG Anunoby fared significantly better in one-on-one situations than their other forwards — namely Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — did during the regular season. 

On Monday, Cunningham’s performance was more reminiscent of his four regular-season games against the Knicks — the last three Pistons wins — in which he averaged 31.5 points, 8.2 assists and five rebounds per game. Not even Anunoby could slow him, as Cunningham shot 11-for-21 overall to rebound from his quieter performance on Saturday. 

And crucially, Cunningham also got a superstar whistle from the officials. He finished the night 10-of-12 at the free throw line, and drew several bump fouls that he was rarely granted during the season, during which he averaged 4.5 attempts per game. 

“I thought it was a great job of the guys helping him create that space,” J.B. Bickerstaff said. “By the time their trap was going to arrive, it was gonna be late and then there was room for separation and to attack. But he had his mind made up, what he was going to do tonight, and he was elite at it like he always is.” 

The Pistons had more success switching Anunoby off of Cunningham than they did in Game 1, and Cunningham capitalized by being aggressive when he got his preferred matchups. On several occasions, he barged right into Mikal Bridges’ chest on drives to create room and finish. Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson received similar treatment. 

By halftime, Cunningham already had 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He extended the Pistons’ lead to 13, 48-35, midway through the fourth quarter after drawing back-to-back fouls on Hart and Anunoby at the rim and making all four free throws. He closed the half out by initiating contact on Hart and getting to the line, making one of his two attempts, and then hop-stepping past Anunoby for a layup with 1.8 seconds on the clock. 

After reaching double-digit assists Saturday, Cunningham only dished three assists Monday and didn’t record his first until midway through the third quarter − a baseline drive and dumpoff pass to Paul Reed for a layup. Late in the fourth, he found Jalen Duren open for an alley-oop to push their lead back to four, 94-90. 

The Pistons’ shooters picked up the scoring slack from Cunningham in Game 1. The script went differently in Game 2, and he carried their offense on a night they went 6-for-27 from 3 (22.2%) as a team.

“Just be aggressive, and take what they give me,” Cunningham said of his mindset adjustment from Game 1. “Starts with being aggressive and seeing how they want to guard it from there. A lot of times it was making the play to JD or whoever to make the next play.

“It was just what the game gave me, I wasn’t really trying to look for anything in particular. Just play aggressive and play hard.” 

Outside of Cunningham, the Pistons’ defense also won them the game. Without Isaiah Stewart, who missed the game with right knee inflammation, they held the Knicks to 35.1% shooting in the second half. Their physicality, like it has all season, wore the Knicks down. 

And despite some late heroics from Brunson, who scored 14 of his 37 points in the final period to eventually help tie the game at 94, before Dennis Schroder clinched the win with a 3-pointer and split trip to the line. The Knicks were held scoreless after tying the game, and Brunson’s 3-point attempt with six seconds left was short. 

It was a team-wide two-way effort, buoyed by a big scoring night from Cunningham. He sensed what the team needed. He delivered. He can’t wait for Game 3 at Little Caesars Arena Thursday. 

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m excited to see it.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.

Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress).

Next up: Knicks

Matchup: Pistons (1-1) at New York (1-1), Game 3 of first-round playoff series.

Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. Thursday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV/radio: FSND, TNT, truTV; WXYT-FM (97.1).