Pistons collapse in the 4th quarter and their postseason-record skid reaches 15 with loss to Knicks

NEW YORK (AP) — The Detroit Pistons were a little more than nine minutes from ending the longest postseason losing streak in NBA history, playing with poise for three quarters Saturday night.

A mistake-filled final quarter meant the wait will go on for the Pistons.

The New York Knicks had a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter, when Detroit had more turnovers than baskets, and won Game 1 123-112.

The Pistons were in their first playoff game since 2019 and held up well for most of it, building a a 98-90 lead early in the final period.

They trailed by 13 by the time they scored again, contributing to their own collapse with mistakes they had avoided for most of the night.

“I just thought the turnovers led to easy baskets for them,” forward Tobias Harris said.

The period started with two of them before the Pistons even got a shot, a 5-second violation on the inbounds pass to begin the period, then a 24-second shot clock violation on the next trip.

All told, the Pistons had eight turnovers in the quarter that led to 11 points. Detroit shot 7 for 22 (31.8%) and was outscored 40-21 in the fourth.

Cade Cunningham finished with 21 points and 12 assists, but shot just 8 for 21 from the field and committed six turnovers.

The star guard, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, is the primary reason the Pistons made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed after going 44-38, a 30-win improvement that was one of the largest in NBA history from one season to the next.

“Yeah, it was definitely learning experience. Something that I’ve never done before, I’ve never been a part of,” Cunningham said. "But also, I didn’t treat like a different game. I tried to approach it like a regular game, read what the defense gives me, and exploit that. At the end of the day, it’s basketball. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a kid. So, I don’t switch for the environment or anything.

“But, you know, this game got away from us.”

Until it did, the Pistons were on the verge of a smashing return to the postseason, before the kind of collapse their young core had avoided so well. Detroit blew an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter on opening night against Indiana, then hadn't lost when leading by eight or more in the final period since.

So it's now 15 losses and counting since their last victory, in Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals.

“It’s a series,” Harris said, “and you can't get too high, you can’t get too low.”

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Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12), right, attempts to dribble past New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3), left, during the second half of Game 1 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) falls as Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) shoots during the second half of Game 1 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12), right, attempts to dribble past New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3), left, during the second half of Game 1 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) falls during the second half of Game 1 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) sits after falling during the second half of Game 1 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from taking any more steps to dismantle an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that plaintiffs who sued to preserve the Institute of Museum and Library Services are likely to show that the Republican administration doesn't have the legal authority to unilaterally shutter the agency, which Congress created.

The American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit last month to stop the administration from gutting the institute after President Donald Trump signed a March 14 executive order that refers to it and several other federal agencies as “unnecessary.”

Keith Sonderling, the agency's newly appointed acting director, subsequently placed many agency staff members on administrative leave, sent termination notices to most of them, began canceling grants and contracts and fired all members of the National Museum and Library Services Board.

“These harms are neither speculative nor remediable,” Leon wrote.

The judge said he was issuing a “narrow” temporary restraining order that preserves the status quo at the agency without granting all of the relief that plaintiffs' attorneys were seeking. It bars the administration from taking any more steps to dissolve the agency or its operations, fire any staffers or cancel contracts while the lawsuit is pending.

The institute has roughly 75 employees and issued more than $266 million in grants last year.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys warn that closing the agency will force libraries to end grant-funded programs, cut staff and possibly even close.

“And even if Defendants possessed constitutional or statutory authority to eviscerate IMLS, they have provided no reasoned explanation for doing so, ignored strong reliance interests, and failed to consider more reasonable alternatives,” they wrote.

Government lawyers said Trump's executive order requires the institute to reduce its work to only that which is required by statute. They also argued that the district court doesn't have jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims.

“Plaintiffs’ requested injunctive relief would effectively disable several federal agencies, as well as the President himself, from implementing the President’s priorities consistent with their legal authorities,” they wrote.

Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association, said the cut in funding is already impacting libraries across the country, including in rural areas where libraries are setting up their summer reading programs.

“Many libraries that already have contracts with performers and educators, they’re having to find other ways to be able to pay for their assistance with programs,” she said. Hohl added that the grants are a minute percentage of the overall federal budget but provide sizable funding for some facilities that will have to close.

President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)