Knicks 90, Pistons 84 (preseason): Scenes from a very sloppy opening win

The Knicks are back, y’all — preseason back!

New York rode an impressive third quarter to a comfortable 90-84 win over a booty Detroit Pistons club. It wasn’t the most beautiful game you’ve ever seen, to be honest.

The game started out poorly, with a starting lineup of mostly mediocre vets and an ice-cold RJ Barrett. RJ started 2-10 from the field in the first half.

The game picked up when the bench unit of Dennis Smith Jr., Frank Ntilikina, Kevin Knox, Obi Toppin and Mitchell Robinson entered the game. Knox and Toppin parlayed some impressive passing into a dunk.

RJ couldn’t hit a shot to save his life in the first half, but he did show off his passing chops.

Obi passed well through most of the game, though he went kind of off the rails in the fourth quarter.

RJ hit 5 of his 6 shots in the second half to finished 7-16 for 15 points. Not bad, but he needs to improve from beyond the arc (0-4).

The Knicks were pretty horrible as a time from range, hitting only 5-23. But Dennis Smith Jr. actually hit one of those threes, and played pretty well overall.

Pretty much all the young players (plus Elfrid Payton) looked great in the third quarter. It was a fun performance overall, though they almost certainly would have lost to a decent NBA club. The Pistons are going to give them a run for the league’s worst record.