NEW YORK — For the New York Knicks, it was better late than never.
The Knicks, who went just 6-24 in the regular season when trailing at the start of the fourth quarter, erased an eight-point deficit in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons to escape with a 123-112 victory.
New York ripped off a 21-0 run midway through the fourth quarter as Detroit, a team with many of its players making postseason debuts, imploded. During that stretch, the Pistons missed 10 consecutive shots.