Pistons' Cade Cunningham hopes that hard playoff lessons will pay off next season

Detroit (AP) – At the beginning of this week, Cade Cunningham said that he had learned more in four Playoff games than he had started throughout the regular season.

Two games later, the lessons have only become harder.

On Tuesday, the pistons for game 5 went to the Madison Square Garden and kept their season alive with a 106-103 victory. It was Detroit's second victory in New York.

On Thursday, however, it was another loss of cruise at the last second, which ended Detroits's post-season run. Jalen Brunson met a 3 pointer with a 4.5 second lead to increase the Knicks 116-113, and Cunningham's pass to Malik Beasley sailed from the end of time.

“The biggest thing I learned about the playoffs is that you have to pay your attention to details,” said Cunningham. “Every possession means so much more than in the regular season, so you have to do everything more, faster and a little more together.”

Cunningham didn't have his best game on Thursday. He ended with 23 points, eight templates and seven rebounds, but he missed all eight 3-point attempts and turned the ball three times.

“There are so many games I would like to have back,” he said. “Sales, but there are so many small things that we could have done better.”

In the long run, the pistons had a successful season to a reasonable standard. A franchise that had not broken 25 wins in the last five seasons jumped from 14-68 to 44-38 and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

They didn't defeat the Knicks, but they brought them to six games in just the second NBA night series to have decided four games in a row with three points or less. Three of them were the home losses in Detroit by 2, 1 and 3 points.

“This was an amazing atmosphere and the crowd was a hype,” said Beasley. “Next year we will have to make sure that we protect the home court. We have two victories in the garden, and if we could have got one here, we could exclude that.”

The pistons have a lot to do before taking another big step. They are not consistent enough 3-converter-die starter in game 6 2-17 and they have difficulty keeping teams away from the offensive glass. The Knicks turned 13 offensive rebounds into 18 points on Thursday.

But these plans can wait a few weeks.

“At the moment there is disappointment because these boys have no opportunity to continue doing what they did this season,” said Piston's coach JB Bickerstaff. “But that's a great experience, because you cannot get a playoff experience without making a playoff experience, and these boys learned excellently from moment to moment and play.

“You have learned what effects that have won.”