DETROIT — It was a foul, by any definition. Everyone saw it, the referee blew it, the Pistons knew it. And in that brutal, bitter flash, it became something painfully familiar — another gut-punch in another gut-wrenching loss for a Detroit team.

Prepare to recount the gory details for years. With the Pistons trailing by one Sunday, Tim Hardaway Jr. lined up a 3-point attempt from the corner as the clock was expiring. The Knicks’ Josh Hart leaped at him, brushed him and bothered him. It’s a foul under most circumstances, but it wasn’t this time, and you can debate the reasons using all your favorite expletives.

The bottom line is that the Pistons lost a playoff game they should have won, falling to the Knicks 94-93 in another wild atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena, thick with tension, which then turned to anger at the end. J.B. Bickerstaff charged onto the floor to protest as fans stood and screamed. Players threw up their arms in disbelief.

The Pistons now trail 3-1, with Game 5 in New York Tuesday night. Elimination is possible, although in this series, control shifts madly quarter to quarter. The Knicks led by 16 in the first half. The Pistons led by 11 in the fourth quarter.

The Pistons have gotten lots of big baskets from Hardaway, but apparently will have to do this the harder way.

“You guys saw it,” Hardaway said of the non-call. “Blatant.”

Hardaway politely declined to take any other questions, and that was the sum of the rancor. For several minutes on the floor, it was all noise and chaos. Afterward, the Pistons’ complaints, while justified, were fairly muted.

Admirable restraint, but there wasn’t much more to say, considering they had their chances down the stretch. And officials were letting both teams bang bodies, frequently ignoring fouls as the action careened from slugfest to mudwrestling, also known as playoff basketball.

Still, the moment was there for the taking. Star Cade Cunningham had the ball and got an ideal shot, a jumper from the free-throw line, with eight seconds remaining. It hit the rim, bounced to the floor amid a mass of bodies and was tapped to the corner, where Hardaway scooped it and fired it, as Hart bumped him.

And yes, he bumped him.

“Did I make contact with him? Yeah,” Hart said. “Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll let the two-minute (officials’) report say that. He shot-faked; I felt like I kind of got there.”

It wasn’t a lot of contact, but it was a foul. Heck, might as well make the verdict unanimous with the statement from referee crew chief David Guthrie: “After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and should have been called.”

Honesty is appreciated. Timely competence would be more appreciated. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but there’s always something to spur the Detroit-vs-Everybody movement, right?

'It falls on us'

The finish overshadowed a frantic, entertaining game. Cunningham was mostly brilliant with 25 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, the first playoff triple-double by a Piston since Isiah Thomas in 1989. Cunnigham also committed seven turnovers, as the Knicks’ defense clung to him like an extra undershirt.

Many fouls weren’t called on both sides, but was Cunningham surprised the refs swallowed the whistle on the decisive play?

“I want to say yes because it’s a foul,” Cunningham said, his voice low and steady. “But I can’t say I’m surprised. … It’s nothing different than what we’ve seen before. At the end of the day, we gotta make sure we dictate the game. It falls on us.”

In other words, don’t let it come down to one horse——— call. The Pistons are still learning, and turnovers remain a major problem, with 19 in this one.

Bickerstaff and his players have complained all season that the suddenly respectable Pistons weren’t gaining respect from officials. They have to be careful not to feed that defeatist attitude, as this was two crushers at home in three days. The Pistons fell to the Knicks, 118-116, Thursday night when an apparent backcourt violation by New York with a half-second left was ruled legal.

You can argue the Pistons are officiated differently than other teams because they’re physical and emotional, and also young. But enforcer Isaiah Stewart hasn’t played since Game 1 with a knee injury, and the teams were called for the same number of fouls (17) in this one.

Knicks stars Karl-Anthony Towns (27 points, 5 for6 on 3s) and Jalen Brunson (32 points, 11 assists) rose exactly when needed. Brunson limped to the locker room after twisting his ankle late in the third quarter and the Pistons took off, as Malik Beasley finally heated up from 3-point range.

When Brunson returned, his impact was immediate, his limp virtually gone, the type of recovery that makes legends. He was again booed every time he touched the ball, and usually silenced it. Towns also stamped his clutch mark, hitting a jumper to cut Detroit’s lead to 93-91 with 1:25 left. With 46 seconds remaining, Towns struck again, nailing a 3 to make it 94-93, setting up the frenetic finish that began with Cunningham’s missed 15-footer.

“Cade got his shot, got to his spot,” Bickerstaff said. “He had a shot that he liked and that we all liked. I trust Cade to take that shot 100 times in a row.”

On the no-call foul, Bickerstaff was calm and blunt.

“(Hart) leaves his feet, there’s contact on Tim Hardaway’s jumpshot, I don’t know any other way around it,” he said, before acknowledging the nature of playoff officiating. “They do let you play more physical. Well, some people get to play more physical, I’ll say that. … There’s more grabbing, holding, we’re fine with that. We like that style of basketball, you won’t hear us whining about it.”

Physical feel

The Pistons were stronger on the boards (54-28) and held the Knicks to 37% shooting. Cunningham only got to the free-throw line four times, but nobody was really getting to the line on this day.

Tobias Harris has been in the league for 13 years and hasn’t seen many clashes as hotly contested as this.

“Physicality all series has been at an all-time high,” said Harris, who scored 18 while trying to bang with Towns. “They let us play, like, sometimes.”

Sometimes it makes sense to let the big fellas battle. It makes less sense to ignore it on the final shot that essentially turned a 2-2 series into 3-1.

In the first two playoff games in Detroit in 17 years, most people did their jobs, including the fans and various sports celebrities. LCA was electrified, and the teams delivered classic NBA drama. The refs delivered classically twisted NBA drama, which merely devastated a team and a city.

Brutal in so many ways. The Pistons can’t cave to frustration now, and I don’t think they will. Game 5 in Madison Square Garden will be another cauldron of animosity, and the Pistons will take their best shot again. My advice: Don’t wait until the end to take it.

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