A terrific response game from the Knicks, who drilled 26 of 29 free throws, including multiple late conversions apiece by Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, to grab Game 3 with a 118-116 victory to take a 2-1 series lead.

Towns scored 31 points after a quiet Game 2 and Brunson added 29 with nine assists to lead four players with at least 20, while Josh Hart contributed six points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Knicks.

Game 4 is a Sunday matinee (1 p.m.) in Motown.

Towns just swatted away a drive by Cunningham, and Brunson added two more clutch buckets at the other end for a 112-105 Knicks lead with just under a minute to play.

The Knicks have four players with 20 or more points for the first time in the playoffs sincce 1972, led by Towns' 29, according to MSG.

The Knicks were up 11 midway through the quarter, but a key blocked shot by Reed, another triple by Schroder and Harris' first field goal of the night has pulled the Pistons back to within 104-101 with barely four minutes to go.

The Knicks' bench had been outscored 25-4, but Deuce McBride knocked down a corner-3 with 34.1 seconds left, and Hart connected at the buzzer after grabbing an offensive rebound for a 93-83 advantage entering the final period.

The Knicks resonded to Detroit's opening spurt, and they've gone back up by 10 on a traditional three-point play by Brunson and a baseline jumper by OG, 86-76.

The Knicks are standing around on offense again, and the Pistons scored 16 of the first 20 points of the second half to slash a 13-point halftime hole to one.

The Knicks trailed by two midway through the second, but they closed with a 21-6 flourish to silence the "Pizza, Pizza!' crowd and they carry a 66-53 lead into intermission following a physical 24 minutes.

Anunoby (18) and Towns have combined for 35, while Brunson has 13 with five assists and five boards. Hardaway also has 18, with Cunningham and Schroder netting 13 apiece for Detroit.

Brunson initially was called for a charge, which would have been his third foul of the half, but Thibodeau won a successful challenge that Brunson was hit first from behind by Ausar Thompson. Knicks by 7.

Josh Hart has seven first-half assists, including a key offensive board and feed to Anunoby for a 3 that nudged the Knicks back into the lead.

Tim Hardaway Jr. just buried successive 3s for a 43-39 turnaround lead for the home team. The former Knick has a game-high 18 points already with five made treys in just 10 minutes of action after getting blanked in Game 2.

Game 1 hero Cam Payne just sank a couple of shots off the bench after playing just four scoreless minutes in Game 2.