Knicks claim first win of NBA season

The New York Knicks secured their first win of the season, beating the Detroit Pistons 111-97. The Knicks had started the season with three straight losses.

The New York Knicks, reigning NBA champions, secured their first win of the season when they came back to beat the Detroit Pistons 111-97 on Tuesday night at New York. The Knicks had started the season with three straight losses, while the Pistons came into the game undefeated. Down by 13 points after one quarter, trailing 25-38, the Knicks outscored the Pistons 63-25 across the next two quarters. In the second quarter, New York limited Detroit to 12 points. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 27 points and 20 rebounds. Jalen Brunson made his first three shots in the third quarter to start an 11-0 run that turned a one-point halftime lead into a 62-50 advantage. Head coach Mike Brown said, "We had more good moments in this game in totality than we did the first three games and that's why we got the win." Towns said the team picked up physicality and energy, looking more like itself from last year, but still had growing to do. Brunson said he was trying to do things to help his team and that things would turn eventually. Brown cautioned that the Knicks will have hiccups throughout the long season as they aim to peak in the playoffs as they did last season, adding that nothing is really fixed and the team must continue to build off the performance.

Context and what happens next

The Knicks opened the season with losses to Philadelphia, Boston, and Orlando. They had as many losses in their first three games as they had in 19 games during the playoffs last season. Last season, the Knicks finished the playoffs with a record of 16 wins and three losses and set the record for the largest point differential by a team in a single postseason. They returned this season with their entire starting five back, led by NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and fellow All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. Another loss Tuesday would have joined the 1969-70 Celtics as the only reigning champions to lose their first four games. That Celtics streak came after Hall of Fame center Bill Russell retired following Boston's run of 11 titles in 13 years. The Pistons had handled the Knicks easily in all three regular-season meetings in 2025-26 before this game. The Pistons' next scheduled result in the data is a 106-93 win over Philadelphia on October 25, while the Knicks' prior loss was a 102-111 defeat to Orlando on October 25. The Knicks' next game is an opportunity to test themselves and get better, as Towns noted tomorrow is another day to build.