The Garden was dead. Actually, that’s not quite right; the Garden was beyond dead. All those press clippings about the Pistons and their fearless ferocity and their remarkable acumen from deep: It wasn’t hype. It was real. 

There were just over nine minutes left in the game. Home court hung in the balance. So did history. Six times, the Knicks have dropped Game 1 of a best-of-seven series at home. All six times, the Knicks lost. Dead? Yeah. The Garden was dead. The Pistons had 98 points. The Knicks had 90. The Pistons couldn’t miss. The Knicks couldn’t get out of their own way. 

Five minutes and 27 seconds later, the Pistons still had 90. 

The Knicks had 111.