By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Knicks 105, Pistons 102 – The New York Knicks managed to escape with a close win on Wednesday night at home against the Pistons.
Kristaps Porzingis paced New York with a career-high 35 points, while Carmelo Anthony added 22 points and Joakim Noah chipped in under the basketball with a game-high 15 rebounds.
The Pistons trailed 29-27 after the first quarter, 54-49 at halftime and 81-74 heading into the fourth quarter.
Detroit had a chance to tie the game, down by three points, with 3.6 seconds remaining but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope missed the potential game tying basket as time expired.
The Pistons, who are now 6-6 on the season, were led by Caldwell-Pope with 21 points while Tobias Harris added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Andre Drummond, who returned after missing one game due to an ankle injury, chipped in with 15 points and nine rebounds for Detroit and Jon Leuer contributed with 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Detroit will continue its short road trip on Friday night against the defending NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
Record: 6-6
Tied for 3rd Place in Central Division (3 games behind first place Cleveland)
Tied for 7th Place in Eastern Conference (3.5 games behind first place Cleveland)
Tied with three teams for the last two playoff spots
Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 71
Magic # to clinch a Central Division title: 75
Magic # to clinch a regular season Eastern Conference title: 75
Next Game: 11/18/2016 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 7:30 p.m. @ Quicken Loans Arena
Stats: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 21 points, Tobias Harris 19 points 10 rebounds, Andre Drummond 15 points 9 rebounds, Ish Smith 14 points 8 assists, Jon Leuer 17 points 9 rebounds.
