Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham expects a heated battle in the first playoff series of his career, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post relays via an ESPN interview. Detroit will match up against the Knicks in the opening round.
“It’s going to be a war,” he said. “It’s going to be highly physical games — defense, battling it out on the glass, all of those different things. I think it’s going to be a super exciting series for people at home to watch, and it’s going to be a great test for us as far as first round, first series in a long time for the organization. So it’s exciting, and I think it’s going to be a great one for us.”
The Knicks’ gameplan will undoubtedly center around making Cunningham uncomfortable.
“He’s had a terrific season. It’s not just [against] us, he’s done it against everybody. We understand that. … With great players you don’t guard them individually, you guard them collectively,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So we have to understand what goes into that.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Pacers reached the 50-win mark with the biggest comeback in franchise history. They erased a 27-point deficit for a 126-118 victory over Cleveland in double overtime, the Associated Press reports. Both teams sat out most of their rotation players. Over the game’s final 18:05, Indiana’s Quenton Jackson, Enrique Freeman, RayJ Dennis, Tony Bradley and Johnny Furphy outscored Cleveland 53-24.
- The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe reveals her seven takeaways from the Bulls’ regular season, including the emergence of Josh Giddey, the building of a young core and realization that Lonzo Ball cannot be a building block. Chicago hosts Miami in the play-in tournament on Wednesday.
- Pat Connaughton had a career day in the Bucks’ regular-season finale, pouring in 43 points in an overtime victory against Detroit. “I just wanted to win the game,” Connaughton said, per Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal. “Unfortunately we didn’t do it in regulation, which I’m sure brought some entertainment value for ESPN and everything. Which was fun.” Connaughton holds a $9,423,869 player option on his contract for next season.