Knicks fail to lock up No. 3 seed in loss to pesky Pistons

The New York Knicks had a chance to lock up the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night, but their efforts were thwarted by the Detroit Pistons, who continue to play hard despite being long eliminated from playoff contention.

The Pistons led by as many as 22 points during the game, shocking the visiting Knicks, who struggled mightily on offense. After the game, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said that his team’s lack of effort in practice this week led to the disappointing result.

“Sometimes, when you think you have it, you relax a little bit, and you forget how hard you have to play to be successful,” Thibodeau said. “I think our practices have been a little bit too casual, to be quite honest. “We’re a much better team when we’re active and we’re flying up and down the floor and putting pressure on the defense. That hasn’t been the case the last few practices, and it carried over to tonight.”

The Pistons rode a masterful performance from veteran point guard Jerami Grant, who finished with a game-high 27 points. The Knicks, who were without injured power forward Julius Randle, struggled to find any consistency on offense and turned the ball over 20 times on the night.

Rookie guard Immanuel Quickley, who has been a bright spot for the Knicks this season, led the team in scoring with 24 points off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the loss. The Knicks will conclude their regular season on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, while the Pistons will look to end their season on a high note with a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.