The Knicks employed an offensive strategy by relentlessly destroying the Pistons

DETROIT – The first six minutes told the story of a suddenly cohesive unit thrashing an overwhelming opponent.

• A backdoor cut into a Karl-Anthony Towns layup.
• A no-look pass from Towns over the shoulder to a cutting Jalen Brunson for a reverse layup.
• An alley-oop from Brunson to OG Anunoby.
• A jam from Josh Hart after a steal from Mikal Bridges.
• A Brunson backdoor cut into a layup after an assist from Bridges.

At the end of this offensive phase, the Knicks were already 10 points ahead and snatched the fight against the woeful Pistons, who went 2-7 offsuit poker hand and lost to New York for the 16th time in a row in the 128th game on Friday evening. 98 Cable-to-Cable Destruction.

“If we work together,” Tom Thibodeau said, “our offense is going to be really good.”

The Knicks (3-2) led by 26 points after the first quarter, erasing their second-largest lead ever in the first 12 minutes.

They even increased by 33 points in the first half.

The Pistons never got closer than 22 after that.

When Leon Rose created these Knicks in the offseason, he must have been hoping to be in the starting lineup on Friday night – just the fifth game of the season.

Jalen Brunson, the captain, dismantled Detroit's defense, scoring 26 of his season-high 36 points in the first half.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who had been listed as questionable before kickoff with a sprained wrist, added 11 rebounds, seven assists and 21 points two nights after losing at the Heat 44.

He's shooting an incredible 65 percent of his 3-pointers to start the season, hitting 3 of 6 on Friday and making the Knicks thrive by clearing the floor.

His teammates responded with frequent cuts in the last two games.

“KAT and his ability, you have to be able to keep up with him,” Thibodeau said. “And then what it does is it opens up the cut, and the harder we cut, the more easy buckets we're going to get, we're going to get open 3s.

“And then his willingness to share the ball and make plays for his teammates. And they develop really good chemistry with Jalen.”

OG Anunoby, the $212 million man, scored 21 points and six assists.

Mikal Bridges contributed 15 points with seven boards. Josh Hart had 13 points with nine rebounds.

The Knicks finished the game with 16 steals, including four from Miles McBride.

There was ball movement, unselfishness, cuts and dead-eye shots. It was an early Thanksgiving for the Knicks. They all celebrated at Little Caesars Arena.

“We are striving for an unattainable goal. I don't think anyone or any team in NBA history has played a full 48 minutes. Boston on ring night is over,” Hart said, poking fun at the Knicks’ stunning loss to the Celtics on opening night this season. “It's an unattainable goal and we know that, but we know we have to build to achieve it. I'm not sure what we probably played tonight – probably 30 good minutes of good basketball tonight.

“Next we’re flying to Houston [on Monday] And our goal is to play at least 32, 33, 34 minutes of good basketball and continue to build and build and build until we are the best team we can be at the end of the year.”

The Pistons (1-5), the shining example of the East's ineptitude this decade, have not beaten the Knicks since 2019.

Thibodeau has never lost to them with New York and he also owns Detroit's new coach JB Bickerstaff, who was hired over the summer after a four-year stay with the Cavs.

Bickerstaff's low point in Cleveland was likely his team's defeat by the Knicks in the 2023 playoffs, and his previous low point with Detroit will be exacerbated at home by New York.

“We didn’t approach the game in a mature way,” he said.