John Salley Says The NBA Rigged Knicks-Pistons Series

If a foul had been called, Hardaway would have had a chance to put the Pistons up two points with just over a second remaining. You'd have fancied their chances of holding on and tying the series, but instead, they went down 3-1. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made it clear postgame that a foul should have been called.

"There's contact on Tim Hardaway's jump shot," Bickerstaff said. "I don't know any other way around it. There's contact on his jump shot. The guy leaves his feet, he's at Timmy's mercy."

In the Pool Report interview after the game, crew chief David Guthrie admitted they made a mistake.

"During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr., and a foul should have been called."

The NBA's L2M report for the game also confirmed that a foul should have been called on Hart. While Salley, who won two titles with the Pistons in 1989 and 1990, reckons some foul play was involved, it's a stretch to make such an accusation over one bad call.

The Pistons went 0-3 at home against the Knicks, and if they had managed to win one of the two home games besides this one, the series would have gone seven. They were in a fantastic position to win Game 6 in Detroit, too, as they led 112-105 with less than three minutes remaining. 

The Knicks would close the game on an 11-1 run, though, to knock the Pistons out of the playoffs. While it was a brutal end to the season, it was still a great campaign overall for this young team that finished sixth in the East with a 44-38 record.

This was the first taste of the postseason for the likes of Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson. The experience will help them improve, and you'd expect the Pistons to make the playoffs again in 2025-26.