Knicks had golden opportunity against the Pistons in Game 5—and they blew it

After scrapping and clawing their way to three victories through their first four games against the Detroit Pistons, the New York Knicks had a golden, if not essential, opportunity to close out the series in Game 5. They failed to capitalize on it.

And they may live to regret it.

Falling to the Pistons 106-103 on Tuesday night isn't what'd you deem an unforgivable failure. Detroit is frenetic and physical. Ausar Thompson was out for blood, at both ends of the floor. Tim Hardaway Jr. was relentless with the number of times he forced Jalen Brunson into screening actions. This is a Pistons team with the grit and energy reminiscent of last year's Knicks, and at times, even this year's Knicks.

To that end, New York was not without its own bright spots. OG Anunoby remains a defensive fiend. Mitchell Robinson brought the juice on the offensive glass. Josh Hart had Josh Hart moments, both good and bad. Mikal Bridges turned in some clutch fourth-quarter possessions.

Granted, the bad and the worse ultimately outweighed the good. The Knicks' 87.2 half-court offensive rating was their second-lowest of the series. Their third-quarter woes are alive and (un)well. Somebody needs to check on Deuce McBride. New York missed 11 free throws. And oh, Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks' two All-NBA players, combined to shoot 9-of-30 from the floor.

It was a game New York didn't deserve to win. But despite being up 3-2, with two more close-out chances as a cushion, it was a game this team needed to win.

The Knicks new look tired and could have used some rest

Look no further than Brunson to see just how exhausted the Knicks are at the moment. He hit the floor more times in Game 5 than he had made shots and free throws. (Probably.)

When the fourth quarter rolled around, Brunson was running on fumes. He went 1-of-4 in the final frame, and struggled to create separation and knife through the teeth of the Pistons defense. The Knicks needed him to deliver another miracle. He couldn't.

Brunson wasn't alone, either. Towns shot and defended for most of the game like he hasn't slept in weeks. The tolls of an ultra-physical series were on full display, for virtually everyone.

That makes sense. All five Knicks starters are averaging over 37 minutes per game for the series. To what should be the surprise of absolutely nobody, no other team is leaning on its five most-used players to this extreme. (Their minutes were actually under control relative to their usual standards in Game 5.)

Yes, this is head coach Tom Thibodeau's modus operandi. He doesn't shift course during the regular season. He's not going to change his ways during the middle of a playoff series, in which the margin for error is so far nonexistent.

To be fair, it's not like the Knicks have a ton of options staring at them on the bench. Robinson couldn't play any more in Game 5, and McBride isn't shooting nearly well enough to garner more minutes. The Knicks also had, like, a week off before the start of the playoffs.

This in itself is part of the problem. The Pistons are a legitimately good team. That they've made this a series is an indictment of the Knicks. They shouldn't need to travel these lengths to beat them. Frame that indictment however you like. Is this more about Thibs? Or the roster construction? Or about individual players not meeting expectations consistently enough? It is likely a combination of everything. And it is going to cost them. Dearly.

A well-rested Celtics team will await the winner of Knicks-Pistons

Closing out the Pistons in Game 5 was not too much to ask for. The Knicks were up 3-1. They were at home. Good teams find a way to capitalize on that advantage, and carve out as much rest before the next round. (See: The Indiana Pacers' heroics against the Milwaukee Bucks in their own Game 5.)

New York fumbled that opportunity. Now it heads back to Detroit, and an environment that will be loud and hostile, and that will test its mental resolve, which has waffled all year, to say the least. That doesn't mean the Knicks are destined to lose. They might win. They have the top-end talent to win. But that top-end talent should have already won, because it needed whatever extra rest it could get.

The Boston Celtics closed out their own physical series against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night—in five games, like reliably good teams do. They have always posed a tough, if hopeless, matchup for these Knicks. The outlook now gets worse for New York, which will be coming off a six- or seven-game slugfest against Detroit, only to turn immediately around and face a Boston team that beat it by an average of 16.3 points across four regular-season games.

Winning Game 5 would have offered Brunson, Towns, and everyone else some much-needed, long-overdue rest. The semifinals would not have tipped off before May 4. So, a victory in Game 5 would have meant four days off. That is huge this time of year, particularly coming out of a rock fight of a series like this one.

Boston will instead be the team on more rest when the second round tips off. The Knicks, meanwhile, will enter as exhausted and shallow as ever, potentially running on empty. And that's assuming they even close out the Pistons. They didn't in Game 5. If they fail again in Game 6, well, it won't be too hard to imagine them getting that much-needed rest, in the form of a premature exit.

Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.