DETROIT — Monday night, in the Knicks’ quiet locker room, Josh Hart offered an honest take of what laid ahead for his team.

“After a loss,” he said, “you see the true character of a team.”

Doubters were popping up after the Game 2 loss.

The Knicks’ toughness was being questioned.

Fans were finding scapegoats.

Worst-case scenarios were being discussed.

Thursday night, Tom Thibodeau’s team sent a reminder to their critics: They didn’t win 51 games by accident.

The Knicks picked themselves off the mat together, by sharing the ball, getting key stops, and keeping their poise in the cauldron that was Little Caesars Arena.

The result was a gutty 118-116 Game 3 victory over the Pistons on Thursday, swinging home-court advantage back to the orange and blue.

After uneven performances in the Garden, this was the Knicks’ most complete game of the series, one in which they led almost throughout and matched the Pistons’ physicality.

“It’s playoff basketball. We have guys that have been in a lot of big games,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We’ve been a good road team all year, so I think we know what goes into winning.”

Heroes were everywhere.

Hearing “F–k you, Brunson” chants most of the evening, Jalen Brunson turned in a controlled and efficient performance: 30 points, nine assists and one turnover in 39 strong minutes.

Karl-Anthony Towns responded from his Game 2 no-show with an aggressive mindset from the opening tip to score 31 points.

OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges combined for 42 points and six 3-pointers on the wing.

Lastly, there was Hart, all over the floor on both ends, finishing his night with 11 rebounds, nine assists and two steals.

It marked the first time since 1972 that the Knicks had four players score at least 20 in the same playoff game.

“That’s something we talked about,” Hart said, referring to their balanced scoring.

After saying Thursday morning he needed to get off the ball more, Brunson orchestrated like a good point guard should.

He got others involved, and took over when needed.

The Pistons had cut an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead to three when Brunson scored on consecutive drives to push the difference to seven with 59 seconds left.

The chants didn’t get to him.

“To Jalen, those are cheers,” Thibodeau said. “He lives for that stuff.”

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The Pistons made it a game in the final seconds, and had the ball down two with 0.5 seconds left thanks to a clock error.

Brunson intentionally missed his second free throw, and the buzzer sounded prematurely.

By rule, an inadvertent whistle gives possession to the team who grabbed the rebound.

But Detroit had to go the length of the court.

It couldn’t inbound the ball, Jalen Duren throwing it away.

“They had the home-court advantage,” Hart said. “That’s example A of home court advantage.”

Anunoby contained Cade Cunningham after his explosive Game 2 effort, holding the young star to 24 points on 25 shots.

The Knicks were much better on the glass (out-rebounded by four) after getting crushed on Monday, and piled up 22 assists, a major improvement on their 15 from Game 2.

Outside of a brief stretch in the second quarter when the Pistons got hot from deep, the Knicks controlled the first half.

They were plus-five on the boards, dominant in the paint (24-8) and moved the ball extremely well.

Really, the Pistons were fortunate to trail by only 13.

If not for Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 3-point barrage — he scored 18 points in the opening half — the deficit would’ve been much bigger.

The Knicks completely took command over the final 5:13 of the second quarter, ripping off a 23-6 run.

It started with a Towns drive, was followed by an Anunoby 3-pointer and a Bridges jumper.

Anunoby and Bridges each turned steals into transition baskets in the game-turning spurt, which concluded with a Brunson bank shot in the paint.

The Pistons went to the pick-and-roll to start the third quarter, and it worked incredibly well.

Repeatedly, Towns was late rotating back to his man, and Duren made him pay, scoring 10 points in the period.

Duren helped the Pistons outscore the Knicks 16-4 to start the quarter.

Detroit got as close as one, but couldn’t get over the hump, as Towns kept the Pistons at bay, scoring six straight points to stunt their momentum.

Big shots from Miles McBride (3-pointer to beat the shot clock) and Hart (putback at the buzzer) gave the Knicks a 10-point cushion entering the final 12 minutes.

They held on in the fourth, finding a way to reclaim control of the series.

“We’re not surprised,” Hart said. “I feel like we’ve been that team all year in terms of responding and bouncing back after losses.”