Over the past week, the Pistons came into Madison Square Garden and took care of business. Despite their lack of playoff experience, they won one on the road and evened the series, also getting their first postseason win since 2008. Tonight, as the series moved to Detroit, their focus turned to protecting home court and gaining an edge over the Knicks. As expected, tensions were flaring between both teams and it led to a wild physical altercation between Karl-Anthony Towns and Paul Reed.

It happened in the closing seconds of the opening quarter. Well, the altercation initially started with Reed and Mitchell Robinson going at each other, fighting to establish position. Seeing the two big men go head-to-head, Towns stepped in and shoved Reed away from his teammate. Before the situation could escalate, officials and team staff rushed in to separate the three stars. However, the damage was already done.

Upon review, Mitchell and Reed were assessed with a double-technical foul. Then, an additional tech was handed out to KAT for his involvement. While the fight broke out, on-air announcer Reggie Miller was just loving the heated encounter as he said on Live TV, “This is great. I’m all for this. The intensity.” Isn’t this what playoff basketball is all about? Intensity. Passion. Competition.

However, both teams needed to be extremely cautious because one ejection could turn the game around. While Reed spent the entire season coming off the bench, he has become an important rotation piece recently. That’s because he has replaced Isaiah Stewart as the Pistons’ secondary big man, as Stewart has missed two straight games due to right knee inflammation. So, the Detroit team cannot afford to lose Reed because then the internal load will increase significantly on Jalen Duren.

Similarly, for the Knicks, Robinson is a solid defender and rim protector, who played a crucial role in last year’s playoff run. And losing him would leave them with a major size disadvantage. Of course, Towns is also a key part of the Knicks’ rotation and one of their primary superstars. Without him, they would lose a nightly 25+ point scorer. And him getting ejected tonight would have been highly unfortunate because he finally found his rhythm and ended his shooting slump.

Karl-Anthony Towns redeems himself in Game 3 after stern message from Jalen Brunson

A big reason the Knicks lost Game 2 in New York was KAT’s disappointing 10-point performance. Well, he was clearly out of rhythm and did not take a shot in the final 17:20. After the game, Jalen Brunson took accountability for not being able to get his teammates open looks, including Towns, “It’s tough when there’s one ball and a lot of great players on this team, and definitely it’s on my shoulders. I’m not going to point fingers and say some people didn’t do that and this. It’s on me to make sure I set the table. So, I’ll go back and figure out what I need to do.”

Then, he had a stern message for the big man, reminding him of his potential, “We have a guy who’s probably gonna be a smaller guy guarding KAT. So, KAT’s able to either take them to the post or play on the perimeter, which everybody wants. That’s his game. That’s what he do.”

Looks like the message did wonders for Towns as he had an incredible first half in Detroit. Finally getting out of his shooting slump, he dropped 17 points in the opening half and helped his team gain a 13-point lead. Surely, the Knicks fans would be hoping that he continues this form and leads them to victory. Do you think KAT can step up to the challenge?