The New York Knicks played the Detroit Pistons three times in the 2025-26 regular season. They lost all three games by an average margin of 28 points. Much like the Atlanta Hawks, currently giving New York some trouble in their first-round matchup, the Pistons are young, athletic, and downright hungry.
The Orlando Magic, however, look even hungrier. Up 3-1 through the first four games of their series against the Eastern Conference's #1 seed, the basketball team from the "Motor City" has looked remarkably mortal.
The Knicks might have been worried about a potential rematch against the Pistons in this year's postseason, needing to work overtime to ensure the same results as last year. Now, thanks to Orlando, they might not even have to play Detroit again.
Knicks can avoid Pistons in playoffs (if they beat the Hawks)
It'd certainly be nice for New York to get out of having to play Detroit in the postseason. The Knicks should theoretically be able to beat the Pistons again, just like they did last year in their first round series. But they didn't show it, at all, in the regular season.
Cade Cunningham's late-February masterclass in Madison Square Garden – when he dropped 42 points, eight rebounds, and 13 assists on the way to one of his three victories over New York – seemed like a warning.
Cunningham has struggled with turnovers for years, but they didn't stop Detroit from winning that game by 15 points. If they finally had the offensive firepower to overcome those giveaways, or prevent them from happening in the first place, it could their outlook as a group.
Orlando's physical defense, however, is putting Detroit's offense in a brutal spot. Cunningham had just three turnovers in the Magic's Game 1 victory; he's averaging 6.75 turnovers per game over the first four games of the series. That's the result of 24 total turnovers over Games 2, 3, and 4.
New York still has to beat Atlanta to get to worry about Round 2
While it's never a bad time to look ahead and strategize, New York definitely can't afford to get too far ahead of themselves just yet. While it's certainly looking like the Magic are going to take care of the Pistons, the Knicks still have to beat the Hawks.
It looked like they found some form of answer to Atlanta's physical defense in Game 4, when their repeated utilization of a "flex" action created plenty of open shots around the rim for wings like OG Anunoby and Josh Hart.
If they can keep it up, they might just wind up winning the series they were widely favored to – before falling behind two games to one.
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