Cade Cunningham Scores 19 as the Knicks Beat the Pistons 111-97 for Their First Win

The New York Knicks are winless no more. Behind Karl-Anthony Towns' 27 points and 20 rebounds, New York beat the Detroit Pistons 111-97 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night - the reigning champions' first win after an 0-3 start, and the first loss of the season for a Detroit team that had opened 3-0. Cade Cunningham, whose name was the No. 1 trending Google search in the United States on Tuesday night, led Detroit's resistance with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 35 minutes.

The game turned in one quarter. Detroit stormed to a 38-25 first-quarter lead, New York trimmed it to a point by halftime, and then the Knicks ran away with a 37-13 third quarter that built a 25-point cushion. Detroit won the fourth quarter 34-23, but the surge held. Towns' 20 rebounds included 8 on the offensive glass; Jalen Brunson added 23 points and 7 assists, and OG Anunoby contributed 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

For Detroit, the surprise of the night was Paul Reed, who stepped into the middle and led the Pistons with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 9 rebounds, ahead of Cunningham's 19. Cunningham shot 7-of-18 - a workmanlike line on a night his team scored 12 points in the second quarter and 13 in the third, the two stretches that decided the game.

Both teams play again Wednesday: New York visits Chicago, and Detroit, now 3-1, hosts Charlotte. The Knicks, at 1-3, will take the win however it came - against the last unbeaten team in their conference, on a night the other side's star was the most searched name in the country.