Reggie Bullock returned to his former stronghold to present his best performance of the season.
The Knicks’ 3 and D wings corresponded to his turnover on Saturday night, when he scored 22 points, the highest of the season, in the 125-81 victory over the Pistons in Detroit.
“Reggie was fantastic,” said coach Tom Thibodeau.
Bullock, who established himself as a starter and a legitimate 3-point threat with the 2015-2019 Pistons, hit 8 out of 12 on the field and 6 out of 10 beyond the arc. He teamed up with Julius Randle to score 28 of the Knicks’ first 30 points, which emphatically ended the streak of three consecutive losses.
“Obviously, I played [in Detroit] for four years, but give credit to my teammates, give praise to Jules, ”said Bullock. “It definitely involved me. I tried to create space for him, define screens, take people off him and just space.
“He’s been doing a great job all year looking for pitchers, finding perimeter players to be able to put the ball in the hole. I went out today and the shots were falling for me, so I kept shooting. “
Thibodeau said before the game that he planned to use Norvel Pelle only on a “situational” basis after the center signed a 10-day contract on Friday night. But the fourth-time trash time proved to be the right time for Pelle, who had a three-minute adventure.
The great pitch blocker, signed for depth after Mitchell Robinson broke his foot on March 27, seemed to dislodge his right index finger as he climbed into a dead end at the end of the fourth period.
But he hit back before hitting a free throw and then recording two blocks in the defensive possession that followed. Pelle added three rebounds.
“Our scouts liked him very much,” said Thibodeau before the game.
Killian Hayes, the Pistons ‘No. 7 overall choice that was on the Knicks’ radar before the November draft, came back from a lip injury to his hip that has kept him out since January 4. He played 20 minutes, but was kept goalless, with three assists and five rebounds.
In preparation for the draft, the Knicks originally had Hayes as the primary point guard on their board, outside of LaMelo Ball, before learning about their pre-existing hip problem, reported Marc Berman of The Post. But the Knicks ended up getting Obi Toppin with choice number 8 after the Pistons passed him on to Hayes’ draft with the seventh choice.
Toppin scored eight points on Saturday after shaking the bank in Friday’s defeat.
“I really like the way he plays,” said Thibodeau.
Derrick Rose demanded attention after getting bloody above his left eye in a run to the edge at the start of the second half. But he remained in play and finished with seven points in 21 minutes. … The Knicks put all 15 players in their lineup in the game.