Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks Hand Pistons First Loss

Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds, scored 27 points and took over the third quarter as the New York Knicks beat the previously unbeaten Detroit Pistons 111-97 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden for their first win of the season.

The Knicks had opened 0-3, and a loss would have made them the first defending NBA champion to start 0-4 since the 1969-70 Celtics, according to Field Level Media. Instead, Towns scored 13 of his 27 in a third quarter New York won 37-13, and Detroit (3-1) took its first loss.

How Karl-Anthony Towns flipped it

It started badly. The Pistons closed the first quarter on a 15-5 run, and Paul Reed's 3 with 2.8 seconds left made it 38-25. The Knicks bench brought them back in the second, with Andre Drummond and Landry Shamet scoring the first 11 points of a 19-8 run to end the half. Jalen Brunson's two free throws with 2.4 seconds left gave New York a 51-50 lead it never gave back.

Then Towns took over. New York scored the first 11 points of the third, Shamet's 3 with 2:59 left in the period made it 82-61, and Josh Hart's 3 at the horn pushed it to 88-63. Towns opened the fourth with a layup for a 27-point lead. Knicks fans who sat through the 0-3 start finally got a full quarter that looked like the team they remember.

Pistons made it interesting late

Detroit outscored New York 34-21 the rest of the way and got within 104-93 on Ronald Holland II's putback dunk with 2:39 left, but it never got closer. Reed led the Pistons with 22 points and nine rebounds. Cade Cunningham flirted with a triple-double at 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Duncan Robinson added 12. Ausar Thompson and Daniss Jenkins scored 11 each.

The Pistons were chasing their first 4-0 start since 2018-19. Pistons fans will want to see whether that 13-point third quarter was a one-night blip or the start of something.

The Knicks' supporting cast

Brunson finished with 23 points and seven assists. OG Anunoby and Shamet each had 13, Mikal Bridges added 12 and Drummond scored 10 off the bench. The win also snapped New York's six-game losing streak against Detroit, which won all three meetings last season by an average of 28 points.

Towns did his damage on the glass all night, and 20 boards is his high for the season so far. Smacktok pick: lean higher on Karl-Anthony Towns' rebounds in the Knicks' next game.