Knicks Get Their First Win, Beat Unbeaten Pistons Behind Towns' 27 and 20

By The Arena Staff

NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2026 — For one quarter, it looked like the same old matchup. Detroit scored 38 points in the first 12 minutes at Madison Square Garden and led by 13. Then the defending champions remembered who they were.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 20 rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the previously unbeaten Detroit Pistons 111-97 on Tuesday night for their first win of the season. A loss would have made them only the second defending NBA champion to start 0-4, and would have matched the 1969-70 Boston Celtics for the longest losing start after a title, according to the Associated Press.

The turn came after halftime. New York opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run, Towns later scored seven straight points, and Josh Hart's 3-pointer at the buzzer capped a 37-13 period that made it 88-63. The Pistons, who had swept all three meetings last season by an average of 28 points, according to NBC Sports, never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Towns did most of his damage late, scoring 19 of his points and grabbing 11 of his rebounds in the second half, NBC Sports reported. Knicks coach Mike Brown said he challenged him at halftime to deal with Paul Reed, who had 16 points and six rebounds in the first half. "We looked more like ourselves from last year," Towns said.

It was not all fixed. Jalen Brunson scored 23 points with seven assists but shot 5 of 18 and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, and Brown said as much afterward. "So, is it fixed? No, it ain't fixed. Nothing's really fixed," he said, laughing. "What tonight shows us is we're more than capable if we put our minds to it." Mikal Bridges made his first four 3-pointers of the season and scored 12.

Reed led Detroit with 22 points and nine rebounds while starting for the injured Jalen Duren, and Cade Cunningham added 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The Pistons, chasing their first 4-0 start since 2018-19, shot 9 of 37 from 3-point range, and hot-shooting Duncan Robinson went 2 for 10 from deep.

Both teams are right back at it Wednesday night. The Knicks visit Chicago, and the 3-1 Pistons host Charlotte.

Sources: AP via NBA.com, NBC Sports and ESPN.