The Cam Payne Game

Thibs deserves high marks for his coaching in Game 1...

Final Score: Knicks 123 - Pistons 112
Series: 1-0

When Dennis Schroder made a driving layup with nine minutes remaining in regulation, it put the Pistons up by eight, 98-90.

Detroit could taste it. They had outplayed the Knicks all evening and were inching towards a monumental victory (the franchise hadn't won a postseason game since 2008). The Garden crowd was subdued, and the tension was palpable. If New York dropped the series opener, there would be plenty of tough questions for this club and its coach to answer.

The hungry, upstart Pistons were cruising with momentum firmly on their side.

But the funny thing about "Uncle Mo" is that it's remarkably fickle and can shift on a dime. The fourth quarter of Game 1 Sunday night at MSG provided verifiable proof of momentum's capricious, mercurial nature.

In New York's first possession after the Schroder bucket, Cam Payne, playing the most important minutes of his Knicks career, banked in a right-handed runner and got fouled, cutting the deficit to six. After Jalen Brunson, who struggled mightily in the first half, hit a 12-foot floater, Payne drilled a three-pointer to tie the score at 98.

The Garden was now raucous and rocking. But the Knicks' diminutive backcourt was just getting started. Brunson sank a layup with seven minutes remaining to give New York its first lead in the final frame. After another defensive stop, Payne hit a step-back 3PT from the top of the key to put New York up five. Karl-Anthony Towns then came up with a steal, leading to a Brunson fast-break bucket.

The Garden exploded. The Pistons called a timeout in hopes of stifling the steamrolling momentum, but to no avail. New York got two more stops, which led to a pair of Josh Hart layups in transition.

Hart's baskets capped a dizzying, dazzling 21-0 run. The scoreboard read 111-98. The Knicks had converted an eight-point deficit to a 13-point lead in less than five minutes.