The Knicks got their teeth kicked in in a 121-90 loss to the Detroit Pistons to extend their losing streak to four games.

-- New York's lack of defense as of late persisted out of the gate against the top seed in the East who entered the contest averaging 118.8 points per game, 11th-best in the league. Sure, Cade Cunningham made some shots (14 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the first half), but it wasn't just Cunningham as the rest of the Pistons got involved early and often as well, shooting 63 percent from the field and 55 percent from deep as a team in the first 24 minutes.

-- Detroit's bench, led by players like Jaden Ivey and Daniss Jenkins, scored 22 points in the first half as they were helped out by Cunningham's excellent court vision and passing ability that gave him seven assists at halftime. By contrast, the Knicks as a team had just nine assists at the break.

-- Regardless, New York shot the ball well in the first, going 54 percent from the field and 57 percent from downtown. A lot of that production came from Jalen Brunson who had 17 points on 8-of-13 from the floor. The point guard actually scored eight of his team's first 11 points, though the Knicks were down for the majority of that run.

Still, possessing the ball so often led to three turnovers before the break by Brunson and he was a minus-6 on the court entering the second half.

-- Like the Pistons, though, the Knicks got some key contributions off their bench, most notably from Miles McBride who had eight points, two rebounds and two assists in the first half while going 2-for-2 from three. The sharpshooter made three more threes in the second half to go 5-for-6 and finished with 17 points. He's been on fire from beyond the arc lately, making 46 of his last 84 three-point attempts (55 percent).

-- Going up against the best shot-blocking team in the league (6.3 blocks per game entering play), New York was blocked six times in the first half and after keeping it close in the first quarter (down 30-29), the Knicks slipped further and further behind in the second quarter and entered halftime down 64-54. 

-- New York's shooting plummeted out of the break, putting up just 15 points in the third quarter. Eight of those points came from Brunson while the rest of the starters contributed next to nothing. Most disappointing was Karl-Anthony Towns who needs to step up on both ends of the floor with Josh Hart still out with a sprained ankle. 

Instead, KAT finished with six points, one rebound and six turnovers. He took four shots and just two from inside the arc despite being the tallest player on the court. In fact, Detroit completely overmatched the Knicks on the glass, outrebounding them 44 to 30 even though no Piston had more than nine. Only Mitchell Robinson finished with double-digit rebounds, securing 10 boards in 25 minutes.

-- After such a disheartening third quarter by New York and no change in the fourth, head coach Mike Brown had seen enough and waved the white flag by emptying his bench with half a quarter left to play.

-- The Knicks led only once in this game, the first lead of the night after OG Anunoby made one of two free throws to give them a 1-0 lead. 13 seconds later, Duncan Robinson hit a three (and the free throw after getting fouled) and Detroit was off and running.

-- The Pistons finished with 11 blocks and 12 steals, turning over New York 20 times.

Cunningham was clearly the best player on the court and finished with a double-double (game-high 29 points, 13 assists).

8 of the first 11 Knicks points from Jalen Brunson! pic.twitter.com/Z6PqUx2agc

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 6, 2026

The Knicks host the Los Angeles Clippers at MSG on Wednesday night with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.