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Injuries to Brunson & Hart Cost Knicks Late in Game 5

 Onto Game Six. At the end of the day that is all the Knicks and their fans can say after a disappointing 106-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 that will send the series back to Detroit on Thursday night.

What made Tuesday's blown opportunity by the Knicks so frustrating is the fact that the game was right there for them the take. The turning point came with just under three minutes to play when both Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart had to sit with injuries. 

Jalen Brunson - Getty Images. 

With only one timeout in his pocket, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau chose not to use it when both Brunson and Hart were ready to check back into action. Without a stoppage in time, the Knicks watched as Detroit went on a 6-2 run to grab a 103-97 advantage.

Without Brunson and Hart on the floor, the Knicks took five shots and missed every single one. 

By the time Brunson and Hart finally came back in, there were only 27 seconds to play.

Ironically the Knicks almost made up for it. Brunson took the first inbounds pass he saw, dished it out to Mikal Bridges who nailed a three in the corner to cut the Pistons lead to three.

After Dennis Shrouder nailed one of two free throws to give Detroit a 104-100 lead, OG Anunoby drained a three of his own to cut the deficit back to a single point. Unfortunately for New York, this is where things got messed up.

New York had a chance to steal the inbounds pass, but Brunson's attempt to bounce the ball off a Pistons player didn't work. Eventually, Detroit went to the free-throw line as Cade Cunningham iced it.

How can Thibodeau justify this? He had a chance to put the best players on the floor (timeouts be damned) and didn't do it. He played it too close to the vest instead of going for the jugular with the home Garden crowd behind him. 

Now the Knicks head to Detroit where the Pistons haven't won a playoff game since the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals. You think the Pistons are not going to be up and ready to end that skid? 

We could be looking at a winner take all Game 7. Instead of winning, and getting a break for a couple days before a monster series with the Celtics, the Knicks might have to go right to the brink just to advance. 

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