Karl-Anthony Towns posts 27 and 20 as the Knicks hand Detroit its first loss, 111-97

The New York Knicks got their first win of the season on Tuesday night, beating the previously unbeaten Detroit Pistons 111-97 at Madison Square Garden behind 27 points and 20 rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns.

The result kept the defending champions out of the record book for the wrong reason. According to the Associated Press, a loss would have made New York only the second champion in NBA history to start 0-4, matching the 1969-70 Boston Celtics. The Knicks had lost to Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando to open the season, three losses in three games after losing three in 19 playoff games during last spring's title run.

Detroit controlled the start. The Pistons scored 38 points in the first quarter and led by as many as 13, according to the ESPN box score, before New York outscored them 26-12 in the second to lead 51-50 at halftime.

New York took over in the third quarter. Jalen Brunson, who came in shooting 39% for the season and went 1 for 9 in the first half, hit his first three shots after the break. He and Mikal Bridges, who made his first four 3-pointers of the season, keyed an 11-0 opening run that pushed the lead to 62-50. Towns later scored seven straight Knicks points, and Josh Hart's 3-pointer at the buzzer capped a 37-13 quarter and made it 88-63. New York's lead reached 27 before Detroit won the fourth quarter 34-23.

Brunson finished with 23 points on 5-of-18 shooting and made 13 of 16 free throws. Towns shot 12 of 21 but had seven turnovers. Bridges scored 12, OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet each had 13, Hart had five steals, and Andre Drummond added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on 7-of-18 shooting. Paul Reed, starting at center for the injured Jalen Duren, scored 22 on 9-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds. Duncan Robinson scored 12 but went 2 for 10 from 3-point range, and the Pistons made 9 of 37 threes and 14 of 24 free throws.

The loss ended Detroit's bid for its first 4-0 start since 2018-19 and snapped its run against New York. The Pistons won all three regular-season meetings last season by 31, 38 and 15 points and had won six straight in the regular season, the AP said.

The Knicks are 1-3 and visit Chicago on Wednesday night. The Pistons, now 3-1, host Charlotte the same night.