Reggie Bullock returned to his old home to catch the best performance of the season.
The Knicks’ Wing 3 and D was at the height of Saturday night, earning 22 points this season in the 125-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
“Reggie was great,” said coach Tom Thibodeau.
Bullock, who had established himself as a starter and a legitimate 3-point threat to the Pistons in 2015-2019, shot 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. He teamed up with Julius Randle to score 28 of the Knicks’ first 30 points as they emphatically ended their three-game losing streak.
“Obviously, I played [in Detroit] for four years, but give credit to my teammates, praise Jules, ”Bullock said. “It simply came to our notice then. I tried to make room for him, set screens, get people out of him, and just space.
“He did a great job all year finding shooters, finding perimeter players who could put the ball in the hole. I went out today and my shots fell, so I kept firing. ”
Thibodeau said before the game that he intends to use Norvel Pelle on a “situational” basis only after the center signed a 10-day contract on Friday night. But the garbage time in the fourth quarter proved to be the right time for Pelle, who had three adventurous minutes.
The big man who blocked the shots, signed for depth after Mitchell Robinson broke his leg on March 27, appeared to dislocate his right index finger as he climbed an alley at the end of the fourth quarter.
But he put it back before hitting a free throw and then recorded two blocks in the defensive possession that followed. Pelle added three rebounds.
“Our scouts really liked him,” Thibodeau said before the game.
Killian Hayes, general election no. 7 of the Pistons, which had been on Knicks’ radar before the November draft, returned from a labial hip rupture that had kept him out since Jan. 4. He played 20 minutes, but was kept without a score, with three assists and five rebounds.
At the start of the project, the Knicks initially had Hayes as the top guard on their board, outside of LaMelo Ball, before finding out about his pre-existing hip problem, reported Marc Berman of The Post. But the Knicks eventually got Obi Toppin with no. 8 after the Pistons passed him to shoot Hayes with the seventh pick.
Toppin scored eight points on Saturday after slipping off the bench in Friday’s loss.
“I really like the way he played,” Thibodeau said.
Derrick Rose needed attention after bleeding over his left eye on a trip to the rim at the beginning of the second trimester. But he stayed in the game and finished with seven points in 21 minutes. … Knicks brought all 15 players to their list.