Knicks 111, Pistons 97: a 37-13 third quarter finally puts New York in the win column

One quarter changed the night. The Knicks outscored Detroit 37-13 in the third Tuesday, turning a one-point halftime lead into a 25-point advantage on the way to a 111-97 victory at Madison Square Garden. New York has its first win. Detroit has its first loss.

Karl-Anthony Towns supplied 27 points and 20 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. The Knicks collected 19 offensive rebounds as a team. Those extra chances mattered on a night when Jalen Brunson shot 5-for-18 and missed all five of his 3-point attempts.

Brunson still finished with 23 points and seven assists, making 13 of 16 free throws. Mikal Bridges added 12 points on four 3-pointers. New York led 51-50 at halftime and 88-63 after three quarters. The decisive stretch was not a narrow edge sustained for a few possessions. It was a 24-point swing within 12 minutes.

A first win, not a clean bill of health

The opening and closing quarters leave room for a more demanding review. Detroit scored 38 in the first and 34 in the fourth. The Knicks also committed 18 turnovers, which the Pistons converted into 24 points. Tuesday offered a powerful middle stretch, not four quarters of consistent control.

That is the fair reading of a team now 1-3. Towns' rebounding and the third-quarter separation are concrete things to build on. The turnovers and uneven defensive quarters remain concrete things to address. A first victory ends the winless start; it does not settle the larger questions about the title defense.

New York is scheduled to visit Chicago on Wednesday. Our title-defense tracker now includes all four completed games and preserves the earlier three-game snapshot. The next planned comparison checkpoint is five games, using equal game counts rather than comparing this opening week with another champion's full season.