Pistons cap season sweep of Knicks with blowout at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK — If there was any question about who the best team in the Eastern Conference is, the Detroit Pistons quieted all that noise for the third time Thursday.

Behind 42 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds from Cade Cunningham, Detroit took down New York 126-111 to complete the regular-season sweep. The Pistons’ average margin of victory in their three wins was 28 points, with New York losing by 31 and 38 in the first two meetings between the teams.

In the second meeting between the two teams earlier this month, the Knicks were without OG Anunoby, Miles McBride and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Pistons were without Jalen Duren. On Thursday, New York didn’t have the short-handed excuse to fall back on. The Knicks were only without McBride, and Detroit was missing two key rotation pieces in centers Isaiah Stewart and Duren due to suspension.

The Knicks (35-21), who came into the season as East favorites, are now seven games behind the No. 1 seed Pistons (41-13). New York is now tied with the Cavaliers for the No. 3 seed. The two teams face each other Tuesday in Cleveland.

Detroit further bolstered its growing resume with the win, making it even more unlikely that a team will catch the Pistons for the conference’s top spot with just over 20 games left.

If you’re looking for hope as a New York fan, the Knicks went 0-10 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and Cavaliers during last regular season and still made it to the Eastern Conference finals.

The regular season is different from the playoffs, but surely Detroit is champing at the bit to get a rematch of last year’s excellent first-round matchup with the Knicks this postseason.

This story will be updated.