Jalen Brunson had high praise for one Detroit Pistons star who put on a stellar performance while guarding him.
The New York Knicks eliminated the Detroit Pistons in Game 6 of their first-round series. The Pistons put up an amazing fight despite being inexperienced in the playoffs.
Fans were in awe of Jalen Brunson’s brilliant performance to seal the Knicks’ win. The All-Star guard dropped 40 points in the close-out game.
Brunson’s numbers tonight, and truthfully throughout the series, make it look like the Pistons didn’t pose a problem for him at all.
But the truth is that the Pistons played very aggressive defense against him, something even he acknowledged in his post-game presser.
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While his brother Amen Thompson has earned a lot of praise recently, fans are also waking up to Ausar Thompson‘s defensive hustle in recent weeks.
Jalen Brunson said after Game 6 that Thompson made him work for everything in the series. The two had a conversation after the game, where Brunson told Thompson how much he respects him.
“I don’t really think ‘Alright, I’m gonna make this move right here.’ It’s instincts. He [Thompson] beat me to the spot, cut me off, and I just went back the other way.”
“I found a lot of space and was able to take a shot. That dude was tough to play against. He’s big time. And I told him straight to his face after the series that he made me work, so I got a lot of respect for him.”
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Ausar Thompson isn’t the only bright star for the Detroit Pistons. In fact, Cade Cunningham truly arrived against the Knicks, showing that he is a star for the future.
The Pistons under J.B. Bickerstaff are a brilliant team, full of gritty young players who give it their all on both ends of the court.
This year, they took a major leap, going from the worst team in the NBA in 2024 to a rising force in the East in 2025.
The Pistons have arrived, and they are here to stay for the foreseeable future. They are just a few moves away from making a genuine championship push.
