New York escapes an ambush in Detroit and deals the Pistons a Motown-flavored L.

The Knicks escaped a half-second trap staged by the NBA and taking place in Detroit, beating the Pistons 118-116 on Thursday to get home-court advantage back three games into the first-round series.

New York will keep watching from a distance as the folks from Manhattan wait for the Game 5 clincher to be played at Madison Square Garden.

Here’s what Coach Thibs and a few others said before and after yesterday’s affair.

Tom Thibodeau

On Game 3 start and closing execution:

“I thought the way we started the game was much better. And, we made timely plays down the stretch.”

On Towns’ bounce-back game:

“He bounced back. He can score a lot of different ways and he used his versatility to his strength.”

On the Game 3 officiating mistake:

“It doesn’t seem right to me. That should never happen, ever, in a playoff game.”

On Towns and Brunson trusting each other:

“When he gets the ball in the paint, there’s two and three guys coming at him. I don’t want him forcing bad shots that doesn’t make sense. Hit the open man, trust the pass and then you’ve got to keep it moving. We can do some things better to search him out, get him that second look. But don’t fight the game. The same with Jalen if he’s being blitzed. Trust the pass.”

On having the proper playoff mentality:

“It’s playoff basketball. We have guys that have been in a lot of big games. We’ve been a good road team all year, so I think we know what goes into winning.”

On the faster Game 3 pace compared to earlier games:

“We thought that [Game 1], we played faster and it was good for us. Really, that’s the way we like to play. Then we got bogged down in Game 2. And each game is different, so you have to understand what goes into it and learn from each one, get ready for the next one. There’s obviously a lot of things we need to do better and correct for Sunday’s game.”

On OG Anunoby’s defense and anticipation:

“He’s really disruptive. The thing that really triggers a lot of that stuff is the ball pressure. I thought Mitch [Robinson] gave us great ball pressure. OG reads plays extremely well. He has great anticipation, and he can invite passes and then get to him. When you get those turnovers, particularly those live ball turnovers, that gets you easy offense. You need those easy baskets. We scored 118. That’s a big number. That’s when we’re at our best.”

On Cunningham’s game and OG/Mikal’s effort to stop him:

“He’s a great player. Puts a lot of pressure on you. The thing I like about both OG and Mikal is they stick with it. You have to. You have to have a determination. Sometimes, you can defend [Cunningham] perfectly, and he can make [the shot]. I think the team has to be in tune with what you’re trying to do as well. But you also have to be aware of his ability to pass, you gotta cover the 3-point line.”

Jalen Brunson

On Detroit’s hostile crowd in Game 3:

“I give them a lot of credit. They made an environment special for their home team. We just found a way to win the game, but that was definitely a lot, so you gotta give a lot of credit to that fanbase.”

On the scorer’s table clock situation giving the Pistons a free chance:

“Smart on their part.”

On hostile chants from fans:

“I mean, do I think it’s cheers? No, but it’s just another way to get me focused and stay composed.”

On ball movement in Game 3:

“It helped a lot. We were able to stay in rhythm as a team. Even when they went on runs, we were all in sync, we were all on the same page. Found a way to win.”

On officials handling of free-throw calls and staying focused in all situations:

“We’ve had a lack of focus when it comes to that. We’ve gotta let them do their job and we’ve gotta do ours.”

On evolving his role to better serve the team:

“I mean, I just gotta make the right decisions. There’s time to be aggressive and there’s times to make plays for others. It’s always going to be a learning adjustment, it’s never going to be mastered but I’ve gotta continue to work for that. So there’s always room for improvement, always room to get better.”

On adjusting his play ahead of Game 3:

“There were a couple possessions where I had some bad shots, and that’s on me just to understand the situation where I need to get off of it.”

On clarifying what he meant by “get off of it”:

“Pass the ball. I gotta say it in French? Pass the ball.”

On Game 2 mistakes and adjustments:

“A lot of missed opportunities by us. They played great and we’ve gotta bounce back. It’s a lot of opportunities where I can be better as a player and we can be better as a team. So a lot of adjustments we need to make.”

Josh Hart

On Game 3’s hostile environment:

“That’s the crowd doing their job trying to throw [Brunson] off. But he’s the Clutch Player of the Year. In those moments, he’s not really too worried about the crowd. He’s focused on helping his team win and he did that.

On having a more balanced scoring in Game 3:

“That’s something we talked about.”

On the clock operator controversy:

“That’s not a coincidence. When it’s an inexcusable mistake like that, you should just let [the free throw shooter] go again. Because it was an intentional miss. … I feel like they for sure heard Thibs [telling Brunson] to miss it. They were right next to him. You know what that is, bro.

“We’re in Detroit, man, what do you expect? They had the homecourt advantage, so that’s Example A of homecourt advantage.”

On Brunson learning to balance scoring and facilitating:

“That’s the toughest part is trying to find that balance. I think him coming in, maybe starting the game to try to get some of these guys involved, get them free flowing. You see it with LeBron all the time. One thing with LeBron: He comes in the first quarter, the second quarter, makes sure he gets his guys involved and gets them into rhythm and then he takes over when you need him to take over. So you can take bits and pieces from guys like that.”

On dealing with centers guarding him:

“Part of the reason, sometimes when the five is on me, I can’t be that other ball-handler that brings it up and gets him off the ball. So maybe we’ll put Mikal in that role or something like that. So it’s a feeling out process, but the good thing is it’s all fixable things.”

On the need for communication and accountability:

“That comes with familiarity and trust, and a lot of times, you only get that when you go through adverse situations together. So it takes time. And there’s times where — there was a play with JB, a pull-up, he had KAT wide open. I’m not sure if KAT said something to him, but I know that if KAT goes, ‘look at the pop, I’m open on the pop,’ he’s going to look at that. Same thing with all those guys. So it’s definitely a feeling out process. It comes with time. But we’re all old enough. I think our hearts are in the right place. So you know it’s not coming out of any selfish intent. So that’s something we can do more, and we will do more of.”

On cutting out in-game complaining:

“It definitely takes you off your game. I think controlling it, that just comes from within, kind of focusing on controlling what you can control. We can’t control what they’re calling. We can’t control getting our first free throws with what, 17 seconds on the clock? We can’t control those kind of things. We can just control how we respond to it. Last game I responded terribly. I have to make sure I fix that, KAT fixes that, and move on from it.”

On technical fouls and past advice from officials:

“He was just like, ‘No, you’re an amazing competitor. But sometimes in the heat of competition, it’s like you’re against us, too. Like you look at it 8-on-5.’ Which I do sometimes. So, I think my complaining and getting techs hurts us. We’re giving them free points or the ball or whatever it is and those kind of things.”

On the Knicks’ playoff identity:

“We’re not surprised. I feel like we’ve been that team all year in terms of responding and bouncing back after losses.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On his Game 3 offensive involvement:

“I got opportunities to do things on the offensive end. The defense—we found a way in transition to get me some good looks, and I was able to capitalize on that and start the night off.

“Shoutout to Jalen (Brunson), Josh. They found me in the flow of the offense and I was able to capitalize on those opportunities.”

On the clock operator incident:

“I ain’t going to lie to you, man; shoutout to the [scorer’s] table, man. Giving your team another chance like that is fire. I got to give them a lot of respect for that. I’ve never seen that in 10 years of basketball.”

OG Anunoby

On adjusting for Game 3:

“We made adjustments. I’m sure they’ll make adjustments again, we’ll make adjustments also. Just gonna watch the film, see what we can improve on, try to be better.”

J.B. Bickerstaff (Detroit Pistons Head Coach)

On the controversial late-game no-call on Brunson’s supposed backcourt violation:

“He catches the ball in the frontcourt, recognizes that he’s getting ready to go into the backcourt, then drops the ball. There are some things procedurally that I have questions about, and I’d be interested to hear some answers.”

On Brunson’s versatility:

“He’s that good, and he’s the type of guy that can beat you different ways. Obviously you know he’s bringing the ball up the floor but they’ve got weapons all over the floor. So you can’t just say OK we’re gonna worry about him and expect Towns and Bridges and Anunoby and Hart to not make plays. This is a 5-on-5 game, and he’s dynamic enough that if you over-help, he can pass the ball. If you don’t help enough, he can find his own shot. So you’ve gotta do the job as a five-man unit, and that’s gotta be the focus regardless of the personnel.”

Tobias Harris (Detroit Pistons Player)

On guarding Towns:

“I definitely embrace the challenge. For me, it’s just being physical, making sure he is taking tough looks. And, making sure every look that he is getting, he has to work for. For me, he’s a big piece of their team and I know the challenge that’s at hand.”

On this year’s Knicks being a “soft” team:

“Yeah, it’s a different dynamic for sure. That’s all I will say. I’m not going into detail.”

Tim Hardaway Jr. (Detroit Pistons Player)

On Detroit’s home crowd:

“It was great. I’m happy we tried to give them something to cheer for. We’re going to need that same mindset and that same energy on Sunday for [Game 4].”

Zach Zarba (NBA Official)

On officiating the Brunson backcourt situation:

“Brunson and the trajectory of the pass were headed toward the backcourt. Brunson’s momentum was taking him there when he touches the ball. That’s why that play is legal.”