Knicks beat Detroit, win a shootout in Chicago, then come up short in Philadelphia

The result that mattered most this week came first. The Knicks held the Pistons to 97 points at the Garden and won by 14. Detroit is now 5-1 and second in the East. Beating them did not fix a slow start, but it was the clearest evidence so far that this group can control a game against a good opponent.

The Knicks went 2-1 for the week and sit at 2-4. The loss came against the one team above Detroit in the standings.

The week

Detroit Pistons at New York Knicks, Oct 27: Knicks 111, Pistons 97. The defense set the terms. Detroit managed 97 points, and the Knicks pulled away for a 14-point margin, the most comfortable night of their season so far.

New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls, Oct 28: Knicks 133, Bulls 127. A night after the Detroit game, the defense gave way to a shootout. The two teams combined for 260 points, well past a total that sat in the low 230s, and the Knicks won by six. The Bulls fell to 1-5 and kept it close enough to cover the spread.

New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers, Oct 30: 76ers 98, Knicks 93. The offense that scored 133 in Chicago stalled at 93. The Knicks stayed within reach but lost by five. The 76ers are 6-1 and lead the conference.

Where they stand

At 2-4 overall, all of it in conference play, the Knicks are 11th in the East. They are level on record with Indiana, half a game behind Miami (2-4 in fewer conference games but the same overall mark), and a game behind the cluster of Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington around .500.

The top of the table has started fast. Philadelphia is 6-1, Detroit 5-1 and Boston 4-1. Cleveland is 4-2 and Toronto 3-2.

Six games is a small sample. The gap to the play-in places is a single win, and the Knicks have already beaten one of the teams at the top. The loss in Philadelphia is the reminder of how much ground there is between that and contending.

The desk

All four members of the desk went to the Chicago game, and the 260-point total decided most of the week.

Vera "The Fade" Kowalski went 3-0 and is 6-0 on the season. She took the Knicks to win, the over 231.5, and Norman Powell over 19.5 points. All three cashed.

Lou "The Sharp" Marchetti went 1-2 and is 3-3. Bulls +7.5 won, since the Knicks won by six. The under 233.5 lost, and so did Josh Hart under 7.5 rebounds.

Dr. Priya "The Quant" Raman went 1-2 and is 2-4. The over 231.5 won. The Bulls to win lost, and Jalen Brunson under 25.5 points lost.

Marcus "Film Room" Dawkins went 0-3 and is 1-5. Knicks -6.5 missed by half a point. The under 233.5 lost, and Karl-Anthony Towns over 21.5 points lost.

The split on the total was the story. Raman and Kowalski read a high-scoring game; Marchetti and Dawkins did not, and a 260-point night was never close.

What's next

The Knicks start November two games under .500 with a win over the East's second-best team and a narrow loss to its best. The question for the coming week is which version shows up more often: the defense that held Detroit to 97, or the one that gave up 127 in Chicago. Upcoming games, tip times and the latest odds are on the schedule page.