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New York Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Knicks Superfan With a Résumé to Prove It
Timothée Chalamet, the Academy Award-nominated actor, has been impossible to miss during the New York Knicks' feisty run through the N.B.A. playoffs. A courtside staple at Madison Square Garden, Mr. Chalamet seemed to get nearly as much screen time as Jalen Brunson, the team's star guard. Mr. Chalamet, 29, was particularly animated as the Knicks eliminated the Boston Celtics in their second-round series. He embraced Bad Bunny. He dapped up Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks' starting center. He posed for the cameras with Spike Lee, the self-appointed dean of Knicks fandom. He leaned out the window of a sport utility vehicle on Friday to celebrate with other fans in the shadow of the Garden after the Knicks' series-clinching win. He even earned praise on X for getting Kylie and Kendall Jenner, both famous Angelenos, to cheer alongside him at the Garden, in a post that has been viewed more than 23 million times. (That he is dating Kylie undoubtedly helped win them over.) A focus on celebrities at N.B.A. games is nothing new. For years, the Knicks have pushed the concept of the Garden's Celebrity Row — their answer to the star-studded floor seats at Los Angeles Lakers games. But while Jack Nicholson spent decades holding court at Lakers games, and Drake has been a sideline fixture for the Toronto Raptors, the Knicks of Mr. Chalamet's childhood often filled out the floor seats with lower-rung celebrities and entertainers who just happened to be in town. And Mr. Lee, of course. These days, Celebrity Row at the Garden delivers on its name. And in that group of A-listers, Mr. Chalamet has the fan credentials to hang with any of them. Evidence of Mr. Chalamet's longstanding loyalty is apparent in social media posts from November 2010, around the time that Mr. Chalamet, then 14, was attending LaGuardia High School in Manhattan. He was not yet a star. His breakout role in the Showtime series 'Homeland' was a couple of years away. But he was already familiar with the hardships borne of rooting for the Knicks, who were coming off nine straight losing seasons. Before the start of the 2010-11 season, the team got creative and announced a marketing campaign 'You. Us. We. Now,' which was aimed at generating fan engagement. The season was less than two weeks old when Andy Rautins and Landry Fields, two first-year players, had been recruited to take part in a ticket giveaway. On Twitter, Mr. Fields wrote: 'Me & @andyrautins1 will be in the city tonight (starting at 5). The first person to find us and answer our trivia questions wins two tix!' Less than two hours later, Mr. Fields returned to Twitter to announce that the tickets were gone. 'Hahaha the contest is over,' Mr. Fields wrote. 'Tim Chalamet is the winner. Found us at grand central. Congrats Tim! See you Friday at the game.' Mr. Fields, whose account is now private, included a photo that featured Mr. Chalamet — very young, very happy and very anonymous — wearing a bright green puffer, his head cocked assuredly to the side with both hands throwing up peace signs as he stood between the players. If Mr. Chalamet actually followed through and attended the game — representatives for the actor did not respond to a request for comment — he would have been treated to a 112-91 victory over the Washington Wizards that improved the Knicks' record to 3-2. They proceeded to lose their next six games. All things considered, the Knicks went on to have a decent season, at least by their standards at the time. After making a midseason trade for Carmelo Anthony, the team finished with a 42-40 record and secured a playoff berth, its first since 2004. The Knicks have bigger goals this season. They are set to take on the Indiana Pacers in the N.B.A.'s Eastern Conference finals, which will start on Wednesday at the Garden. The team is four wins from reaching its first N.B.A. finals since 1999 — Mr. Chalamet was 3 at the time — and eight wins from its first championship since 1973. It is unclear whether Mr. Chalamet will be in attendance at the conference finals. But it seems certain that he will follow along in one way or another. After all, he skipped the Met Gala this year, posting on Instagram Stories that he was watching the first game of the Knicks' series against the Celtics on his iPad. If he decides he does want to go, he will presumably take a seat on Celebrity Row with Mr. Lee and other A-list Knicks fans like Ben Stiller, Lenny Kravitz and Bad Bunny. And he won't need to win a social media trivia contest to get there.
New York Times
27-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Dick Barnett, Champion Knick With a Singular Jump Shot, Dies at 88
Dick Barnett, who helped propel the Knicks to their glory days in the 1970s with his strange jump-shooting style, and who played on the only two N.B.A. championship teams in the Knicks' history, died in his sleep last night in Largo, Fla. He was 88. The Knicks announced the death, at an assisted living facility, on social media on Sunday, soon after a dramatic victory in a first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons. Danielle Naassana, a producer of 'The Dream Whisperer,' a PBS documentary about Barnett and his college career that came out last year, said he had become increasingly frail in recent years but did not appear to have a fatal illness. Barnett was voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in its men's veterans category in April 2024. Playing for 14 seasons in the N.B.A., his last nine with the Knicks, Barnett teamed with Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe at guard, Willis Reed at center and Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere at forward under Coach Red Holzman. The Knicks won N.B.A. championships in 1970 and 1973 with smart, unselfish play and tenacious defense that complemented their scoring power. Barnett displayed all-around court skills but was remembered most for unleashing jumpers with a form that had not been seen before or since. When he launched his signature left-handed shot from his 6-foot-4-inch frame, his legs flew backward. Resembling a shot-putter, he put up high-arcing shots off his left ear, while telling the player guarding him 'too late' and directing his teammates to 'fall back' since there would no need for an offensive rebound. When Barnett was playing with the Los Angeles Lakers, before he became a Knick, their longtime broadcaster Chick Hearn would shout, 'Fall back, baby,' when Barnett went up for his shot. Barnett led the historically black Tennessee A&I University (now Tennessee State) to three consecutive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championships, from 1957 to 1959, playing for the future Hall of Fame coach John McLendon. McLendon recalled in an interview with The New York Times in 1991 how Barnett 'would go up and back at a 40-degree angle' on his jumpers. 'It was an undefendable shot,' McLendon said. 'When he'd hit the floor, he was often off balance; sometimes he'd exaggerate it. One time, he fell clear up in the second row after the shot.' That style was developed 'without rhyme or reason, something that came naturally and worked for me,' Barnett told the Times sportswriter Harvey Araton for his book 'When the Garden Was Eden' (2011). 'It was in the playground before I even got to high school that I learned how to execute that shot without really knowing what I was doing.' The Syracuse Nationals selected Barnett in the first round of the 1959 N.B.A. draft. He played two seasons for them and then one season for George Steinbrenner's Cleveland Pipers of the short-lived American Basketball League, coached by McLendon at the season's outset. After that he spent three seasons with the Lakers, playing with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. They traded him to the Knicks for forward Bob Boozer in October 1965. Barnett joined with Reed, who was in his second season, as the first major building blocks for a Knick franchise that had been floundering for years. He averaged a career-high 23.1 points a game in his first season with New York and made the All-Star team for the only time in his career in 1968. He teamed with Frazier in the backcourt when the Knicks won the 1970 N.B.A. championship, defeating the Lakers in a seven-game final. Reed, who died in 2023, provided a memorable emotional lift for the Knicks in Game 7, playing against Wilt Chamberlain on a badly injured leg, while Frazier hit for 37 points and Barnett had 21. When the Knicks won the championship again in 1973, defeating the Lakers in five games, Barnett was in his final full season, playing as a reserve behind Frazier, Monroe and Dean Meminger. He became an assistant coach to Holzman the next season, returned to play in five games as an injury fill-in, then retired for good with 15,358 career points for an average of 15.8 points a game. Barnett was stylish off the court as well as on it. Holzman told of the time, when he was scouting for the Knicks, when he saw Barnett, who was with the Nationals. enter the old Madison Square Garden for the first time. 'He walked in with a Chesterfield coat, homburg, striped pants, spats and an umbrella hooked on his arm,' he recalled in his memoir, 'The Knicks' (1971, with Leonard Lewin). Richard Barnett was born on Oct. 2, 1936, in Gary, Ind., where his father was a steelworker. He starred on his high school basketball team before attending Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State University (now known as Tennessee State University), one of the South's historically Black colleges and universities. From 1957 to 1959, his team won back-to-back-back championships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a separate conference smaller than the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It was the first Black college basketball team to win any national championship. The recent documentary focused on Barnett's efforts to win greater recognition for that team, which culminated in their collective induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. Barnett did not graduate, but while he was a Laker he received a bachelor's degree in physical education from Cal Poly. He obtained a master's degree in public administration from New York University while a Knick and a doctorate in education from Fordham University in 1991. He taught sports management at St. John's University and established a publishing imprint, Fall Back Baby Productions, for which he wrote poetry and commented on athletes and race. His survivors include a sister, Jean Tibbs. He lived mostly in New York in recent decades and moved to Florida last year. In March 1990, the Knicks raised a banner with Barnett's No. 12 and another one reading '613,' representing Holzman's victories as the Knicks' coach. In February 2023, Barnett joined some of his surviving former teammates from the 1972-73 championship squad for a 50th-anniversary celebration of that title during halftime of a game at the Garden. Bradley pushed a frail Barnett in a wheelchair onto the court to accept the applause of fans. The Knicks have not won a championship since 1973. In his 1971 memoir, Holzman praised Barnett for more than his shooting. 'He has such great basketball instinct,' Holzman said. 'He grasps things faster than anyone.' The night before Barnett and Holzman were honored, Barnett recalled a long-ago road trip. 'Some of the players felt it would improve our eyesight if we went to the burlesque show at the hotel, even though we might miss curfew,'' he said. 'When we mentioned it to Red, he told us not to go because we might see something there that we shouldn't see. But we went to the burlesque show anyway. And we did see something there that we shouldn't have seen. We saw Red.''
New York Times
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The N.B.A.'s Hidden Game: Arranging Courtside Celebrities
As a top executive for the N.B.A.'s Atlanta Hawks, Levetta Futrell is responsible for negotiating contracts with halftime performers and managing a budget that steers her department's priorities. But sometimes her job requires fetching French fries. While the rapper Gucci Mane and his wife, Keyshia Ka'oir Davis, were sitting courtside at a Hawks game, Futrell grabbed fries with a side of ketchup when Davis requested them. Snagging cocktails, towels and other items for A-list guests is also common. 'I tell people my role is a glorified servant and I solve problems,' said Futrell, the team's vice president for entertainment industry relations. 'You can't have ego going into this." The grandeur of sitting courtside at an N.B.A. game is typically associated with the country's coasts. The film director Spike Lee, a longtime New York Knicks fan, is an energetic fixture inside Madison Square Garden, and celebrities like the Kardashians often frequent Lakers games in downtown Los Angeles. But the Atlanta Hawks — who play in a city that is the home to prominent rappers and a movie production hub — are part of a growing crop of sports teams that have created positions or refined roles with the intent of getting celebrity butts into premium seats. Stars can help excite fans and enliven the atmosphere of games on television and social media, while also leading to more focused partnerships down the line. The team's three entertainment-relations employees scope potential guests by looking at film release dates, sift through requests for tickets and help manage the publicity surrounding their attendance. Anne Hathaway, Millie Bobby Brown, T.I., Ludacris, Druski, Dustin Hoffman and the social media influencer Sydney Thomas have all sat courtside in recent years. 'It's definitely our center point in our city,' the rapper Waka Flocka Flame said in a brief interview on Friday from the Hawks' last game of the regular season. 'If you don't come to State Farm, what you doing, baby?' The Hawks hired Futrell, who previously worked at Interscope Records and Sony Pictures Entertainment, in 2022 to bridge connections with entertainers, expanding a position that had primarily handled halftime performances. Leadership said the team needed a dedicated person to decipher a fragmented cultural landscape. 'The lines blur and the audiences enjoy it because people don't live in one box,' said Steve Koonin, the chief executive of the Hawks. 'They don't say, 'I'm just a sports fan.' They love the opportunity to see and experience celebrities from all over the entertainment spectrum as part of the sports scene.' Figuring out who sits where can be a challenging process, Futrell said. Hawks games have about 700 courtside seats available for purchase, according to a team spokesman, but they are often sold out, including from season ticket holders such as the rapper Quavo. Two seats that are heavily branded and financed by the beer company Michelob Ultra are reserved for V.I.P.s; they attend free with the caveat that they will be broadcast on the overhead video board. When space is limited, Futrell said, a star's social media following can be a deciding factor. 'We're just trying to prioritize and figure out how to make everybody happy, especially those who can amplify our experience and we can amplify theirs,' she said. The Hawks follow a process that is somewhat similar to the Knicks, who also have focused personnel to coordinate the parade of celebrities at Madison Square Garden. The actors Tracy Morgan and Ben Stiller were in Saturday's sold-out playoff crowd. According to a league spokesman, at least five of the 16 teams in the playoffs have dedicated business department staff to handle celebrity and influencer relationships. They include teams in international hot spots such as the Lakers and Miami Heat, but also teams in smaller regional markets like the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons. Once the Hawks confirm that a celebrity is attending a game, Will Stephens, the team's vice president for premium and suite services, reaches out to discuss details such as parking, security arrangements and whether the celebrity is willing to be interviewed or photographed. He also sends an email to Hawks executives to alert them of the guest's seating location, partly to avoid being caught flat-footed once fans notice they are in the building. When she knows a star is coming, Futrell said, she is 'stuck' to the person until the end of the game. After the singer Ne-Yo performed at halftime, Futrell escorted him through a pathway lined with eager fans. He stopped to take pictures with all of them, she said. ''If you need me to play bad cop, I'll do it,' Futrell recalled telling him. 'And he's like, 'No, no it's OK.'' Managing paparazzi fans? Delivering French fries? It is all just part of the job when hosting celebrities, Futrell said. 'We want them to have a great experience and we want them to want to come back,' she said.
New York Times
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
LeBron James, ASAP Rocky and Everything You Need to Know About the 2025 Met Gala
By now, you probably know the first Monday in May is not just any old Monday: It's the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit, a.k.a. the Oscars of the East Coast or the party of the year. We think of it as the Fashion X Games or the All-Star Game of Entrances. This year, however, things are a little more complicated, partly because the first Monday in May is also the middle of the N.B.A. playoffs, and the start of jury selection in the Sean Combs trial. Wait, why do the N.B.A. playoffs matter? Because LeBron James is the honorary chair of the gala, and if his Los Angeles Lakers make it through to the conference semifinals, he will not be able to attend. Who else is a host? Queen of all she surveys is Anna Wintour, the chief content officer of Condé Nast and the editor in chief of its marquee fashion magazine, Vogue. Ms. Wintour has been the gala's chief mastermind since 1999, after first signing on in 1995, and has transformed the event from a run-of-the-mill charity gala into a mega-showcase for Vogue's view of the world — the ultimate celebrity-power cocktail of famous names from fashion, film, tech, politics, sports and, increasingly, social media. Every brand scratches every other brand's back. Standing beside Ms. Wintour as the 2025 gala's co-chairs will be the musician and men's wear designer Pharrell Williams, the rapper ASAP Rocky, the Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and the actor Colman Domingo. For the first time since 2019, there will also be a host committee, which, along with the chairs, is pretty much a mosaic of Black excellence: the athletes Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens, the playwright Jeremy O. Harris, the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Broadway star Audra McDonald, the singers Tyla and Usher — you get the idea. Is there a theme? Yes, always connected to the blockbuster exhibition that the party is celebrating. This year, that is the Costume Institute's spring show, titled 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,' which will focus on the history and influence of the Black dandy in the Western world, and the way fashion has been used as a tool of both enslavement and liberation. The show was inspired by the 2009 book 'Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity,' by Monica L. Miller, a professor of Africana studies at Barnard College, and it has been jointly curated by Professor Miller and Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute's curator in charge. It is also the Costume Institute's first show devoted solely to men's wear since 'Bravehearts: Men in Skirts' in 2003, and the first ever to feature only designers of color. That sounds like a big deal. It is. The exhibition is the culmination of a rebalancing of the Costume Institute's holdings and approach that Mr. Bolton embraced in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. It has allowed Mr. Bolton to both use pieces from the Met's own collection and acquire more pieces by designers of color. Last year, Professor Miller told The New York Times that the show was 'an opportunity for everyone on the curatorial team to really understand how many Black designers, historically and contemporarily, are out there.' But it is also arriving in the world at a time when D.E.I. is under attack from the Trump administration. Similar efforts at universities and museums across the country have put a bull's-eye on the institutions that embrace them. Is the Met a potential target? Unlike other cultural heavyweights such as the Smithsonian Institution, which President Trump recently singled out in an executive order, the Metropolitan receives very little federal funding, and so is much less vulnerable to pressure from Washington. How does Sean Combs fit into all this? As P. Diddy and the founder of the fashion line Sean John, Mr. Combs styled himself at one point as a sort of embodiment of the exhibition's theme. If he had not been indicted on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking last year, it's almost certain he would have been at the event. (Mr. Combs, who has been held in a Brooklyn jail since September, used to attend the gala regularly, most recently in 2023, when he debuted 'Sean John couture.') Indeed, some involved were reportedly concerned that the tension between party and trial would interfere with the evening. There were even rumors of some requests to move the party, but that was a no-go. Are there other famous people involved? The show is designed by the artist Torkwase Dyson, and features mannequin heads created by Tanda Francis, an artist known for her sculptures of monumental African heads and masks. Iké Udé, a multimedia artist whom Mr. Bolton called the ultimate contemporary dandy, is a special consultant, and Tyler Mitchell, the first Black photographer to shoot a Vogue cover, created a special photographic essay for the catalog. Oh, and the menu for the gala dinner will be created by Kwame Onwuachi, the Nigerian American chef and author. What's the price for all of this? Individual tickets to the gala start at $75,000, and tables of 10 at $350,000. All the money from ticket sales goes directly to funding the Costume Institute's yearly budget. This year, those sponsors include Louis Vuitton (Mr. Williams is Vuitton's men's wear designer), Instagram, Africa Fashion International, Tyler Perry and Condé Nast. As to why the money has to go to the Costume Institute's budget: It is the only curatorial department in the Met required to pay for itself, the legacy of a weird deal dating to 1946, when the Museum of Costume Art merged with the Met, and fashion was not considered an entirely respectable art form. Enter the gala. Last year's event raised about $26 million; for comparison, the Frick Collection's reopening gala, held in April, raised $3.7 million. Who's invited? The guest list is a closely guarded secret. Unlike other cultural fund-raisers, like the Metropolitan Opera's season-opening gala, the Met Gala is invitation-only. Qualifications for inclusion have more to do with buzz, achievement and beauty — Ms. Wintour's holy trinity — than money. The Vogue editor has the final say over every invitation and attendee. That means that even if you give tons of money to the museum, you will not necessarily qualify, and even if a company buys a table, it cannot choose everyone who will sit at that table. It must run any proposed guests by Ms. Wintour and Vogue and pray for approval. This year, as in 2024, there are about 400 Chosen Ones, according to a spokeswoman for the Costume Institute. Is Rihanna going? Given that her partner, ASAP Rocky, is a co-chair, the answer is most likely yes — though you never know with Rihanna. (Last year, she confirmed her attendance and then called in sick at the last minute.) Athletes are increasingly becoming the celebrity guests du jour, so you can expect a smattering of basketball players, including the No. 1 W.N.B.A. draft pick Paige Bueckers, as well as, supposedly, Shakira, Mary J. Blige and Lizzo. There will probably also be a Kardashian/Jenner or two, judging from years past. Several young Black designers such as LaQuan Smith will also be there, many for the first time. As for Jay-Z and Beyoncé, your guess is as good as mine. Do the celebrities buy their tickets? Do dogs fly? No, they are invited by brands (or by brands on the instruction of Vogue), who buy their seats at the table, in addition to custom-making their looks, flying them in and putting them up. In return, the famous guests work the fashion angle. They can also, of course, always make a donation to the museum. Is there a dress code? Yes, inspired by the exhibit. This year it is 'tailored for you,' a suitably vague guideline. After all, given that most Met Gala outfits are made specifically for their wearer, they are all theoretically tailored for them. Still, the theme may counteract the tendency for guests to dress in costume that has characterized some of the recent galas. Remember when Billy Porter, as a golden winged phoenix, was borne into the party celebrating 'Camp' in 2019 by six shirtless men? Or when Jared Leto arrived at the gala celebrating Karl Lagerfeld in 2023 dressed as Mr. Lagerfeld's cat, Choupette? One thing you can bet on, however: Since Vuitton is a sponsor, you will see a lot of that brand's creations. Also, a lot of suits. When does it start? In theory, the timed arrivals — each guest is allotted a slot — start at 5:30 p.m., usually with the evening's hosts, and end around 8 p.m. Unless, of course, you are Rihanna or Beyoncé, in which case you arrive whenever you want.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cade Cunningham's return wasted in Detroit Pistons' 109-103 loss to Memphis Grizzlies
After missing six games with a left shin contusion, Cade Cunningham made his long-awaited return for the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday. It was spoiled by a big night from Memphis' Desmond Bane, though, as he led all scorers with 38 points and the Grizzlies defeated the Pistons at home, 109-103. Bane shot 15-for-23 and knocked down a dagger 3-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to open a 104-98 lead the Pistons didn't have enough time to overcome. Advertisement Jaren Jackson Jr. (Michigan State) added 27 points and 11 rebounds, helping the Grizzlies overcome Ja Morant's absence due to illness. Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (28) fights for the loose ball against Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) during the 1st half of the N.B.A. game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Saturday, April 5, 2025. WHAT'S IN A NAME? Stephen A. Smith compares Walter Clayton to Pistons guard 'Wade Cunningham' With the loss, the Pistons (43-35) remained in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, by mere percentage points over the Milwaukee Bucks, who played later Saturday. The Pistons clinched a top-six playoff seed for the first time since 2008 on Friday with a road win over the Toronto Raptors. Despite Cunningham's return, the Pistons were still notably shorthanded. Jalen Duren was ruled out pregame with a right peroneal contusion, and Tobias Harris missed his fourth game with right heel soreness. But they were lifted by Isaiah Stewart, who came back from a two-game suspension and started in Duren's place. Advertisement Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points and nine rebounds. Ausar Thompson scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out five assists and tallied one block and one steal, and Stewart added 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks while knocking down two of his four attempts from 3. It was a cold night offensively for the Pistons, who shot 38.9% overall on the second night of a back-to-back, and their third game in four days. Veteran marksmen Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. were 4-for-18 from 3 combined. Without Duren, the Pistons were crushed on the offensive glass, 17-8, and were outscored, 23-9, in second-chance points. Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells (0) drives the ball against Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) during the 1st half of the N.B.A. game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Saturday, April 5, 2025. MAN IN THE MIDDLE: Isaiah Stewart is what Pistons have been missing since last playoff win — 17 years ago Cunningham capped to 28 minutes in return Cunningham eased into his return Saturday, playing just 28 minutes. He assisted on the Pistons' first basket of the night — a cutting dunk by Stewart — and got on the board himself with a 3-pointer at the 7:47 mark. He followed with a floater, before head coach J.B. Bickerstaff subbed him out midway through the quarter. Advertisement He returned with 9:46 to play until halftime and missed his next two shot attempts and a pair of free throws, but he launched the Pistons' 21-6 run with a floater and then followed a 3-pointer from Stewart with another 3-pointer before knocking down a midrange jumper. He accounted for seven second-quarter points. The Pistons managed Cunningham's minutes down the stretch, sitting him for the first few minutes of the fourth until the 9:28 mark, after the Grizzlies opened the period with a 9-2 run. He briefly sat midway through before checking back in with 5:21 to play, but went 1-for-5 from the floor in the final period as the Pistons' offense went cold again. As a team, they shot 35% (7-for-20) in the fourth. Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (28) blocks the shot of Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) during the 1st half of the N.B.A. game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Saturday, April 5, 2025. Stew leads defense, hits 3s The fourth year big man's defensive impact was reflected in his opponents' stats. Jackson shot 4-for-11 in the first half (36.4%) and had two of his shot attempts swatted by Stewart. Rookie Zach Edey, despite standing 8 inches taller (at 7-foot-4) than Stewart (6-8), went 0-for-4 and was unable to get a clean shot off against Stewart's physicality. Advertisement Stewart's activity was a big reason why the Grizzlies shot just 36.7% overall in the first half, but he also brought it offensively. He knocked down his first 3-pointer of the night midway through the second quarter, punishing Edey for leaving him wide open, and capped the Pistons' big second-quarter run with another 3-pointer with 1:03 before the half, giving them a 47-42 lead. He led another strong Pistons in the third period, locking down the paint during a 12-2 Pistons run that closed an eight-point deficit and gave them a two-point lead before the end of the period. Thompson continues two-way impact In his four games entering Friday, Thompson had averaged 15 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.3 blocks and two steals. The second-year forward has been more aggressive with Cunningham out. He shined on both ends during his return. Advertisement Thompson had six points and a block during the 21-6 second-quarter swing. Consecutive buckets in the paint initially extended it to 14-2, giving the Pistons a 40-38 lead, and followed with an athletic chasedown block on a layup attempt by GG Jackson. A couple possessions later, he nearly lost his handle but recovered it and slammed in a dunk to push the run to 18-4, and the Pistons' lead to four. It was Thompson's sixth straight game score in double figures. Make "The Pistons Pulse" your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify). Stay tuned all year long at Advertisement Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress). Stay connected and stay informed. Become a Detroit Free Press subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons score: Clawed by Memphis Grizzlies, 109-103
