Heading into a Friday night game against the New York Knicks, the Detroit Pistons weren’t sure if they’d get a look at one of the Knicks’ star acquisitions for the first time since the big trade between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Knicks.

Karl Anthony-Towns entered the game listed as questionable on the injury report due to a sprained wrist.

The Knicks believed Towns would go through his usual pregame routine with the intention of playing. Only one more setback would keep Towns from facing the Pistons.

As expected, Towns was cleared to act. He was facing the Pistons after having his best game as a Knick in the first few games.

On Friday night, Towns held the ball down in a blowout victory against a Detroit team that was in fine form after beating the Philadelphia 76ers.

“It was just too easy.” JB Bickerstaff said after the Pistons came up short against the veteran All-Star. “It’s part of the competition.”

It ended up being an early night for Towns, who checked in for less than 28 minutes. He has attempted the second-most shot attempts on the Knicks roster during that span. Towns converted 44 percent of his field goals and 50 percent of his three-point attempts.

The Knicks center scored 21 points. He recorded a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds. A triple-double was in sight as Towns dished out seven assists, leading the Knicks in that category.

New York dominated Detroit from start to finish. At the end of the game, the Pistons fell short with a 128-98 loss, and Bickerstaff felt his team simply didn’t play the right way against Towns.

“I don’t care if you make mistakes, I don’t care if one guy gets the better of you because these guys are the best players on the planet, but our expectation is that we compete at a high level for 48 minutes. no matter who we are,” the head coach finished. “We expect us to be a physical basketball team. At the start of this game we weren’t those things. You get what you ask for in this league.

After a resounding defeat, falling to 1-5 on the year, the Pistons are expected to face the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.