When Dennis Schroder shot the ball, I think every Detroit Pistons fan had the same reaction.

“nonononononoono… YES!”

The veteran backup point guard scored four points in the final minute to help stop the bleeding as the New York Knicks once again were primed to erase a big Pistons’ lead in their first-round series at Madison Square Garden.

Schroder’s heroics, combined with a pair of late misses by the Knicks, saw the Pistons do what they could not in Game 1 — face adversity and overcome it. The result was a 98-94 win to even the series at 1-1.

It was Detroit’s first playoff win since May 26, 2008.

The Pistons once again led for most of the third quarter — and all fourth, technically — but as they tend to do, they made it interesting late.

New York turned up the intensity and, while there was no 21-0 run like Game 1, they chipped away at the Detroit lead with a 12-2 run that saw Jalen Brunson (37 pointS) cut a double-digit lead to 92-90 with just over two minutes to go.

Cade Cunningham found Jalen Duren for an alley-oop to stop the bleeding, but Brunson answered by goading Tobias Harris into a foul on a three the next trip down. Brunson hit two of three free throws to cut it to two once again and, after a Duren turnover, a Josh Hart dunked to tie it at 94.

The Garden was rocking. The Pistons were turtling. It felt grim.

Then Dennis took control.

After blowing an eight-point lead late in Game 1, there was a sense by many that the Pistons may come out a little shaken up against the New York Knicks in Game 2.

It was a fair assumptiion. The Pistons looked every part of a young team in their first playoff series and were clearly overwhelmed late as New York ran off 21-straight points to steal the opener.

This was uncharted territory.

When you have Cade, the uncharted isn’t so scary.

The Pistons star shook off a poor performance in Game 1 and answered with a massive one on Monday, scoring 33 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Cade was The Man, but I’m gonna say my unsung hero tonight was Paul Reed. Filling in for an injured Isaiah Stewart, he shook off some early jitters to have a really productive stint in the third quarter that helped the Pistons build the big lead up.

Like they did in Game 1, the Pistons came out locked in to open the second half. New York missed 11 of their first 12 shots as Detroit extended its lead to 68-53 with five minutes to go. Cunningham continued to attack and, honestly, if Tim Hardaway Jr. could make anything, the Pistons might have led by 20.

I didn’t think the Pistons veterans were all going to be firing on all cylinders like they did in Game 1, and that proved to be true. Tobias Harris continued to be steady with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but Hardaway Jr. was tragically bad.

The shooter went 0 of 8 from the field, reminding us that as loud as his big games are, his bad ones are just as impactful the other way. Malik Beasley had seven points entering the fourth quarter as the Knicks doubled him on every catch through three.

Detroit looked cool and composed for three and a half quarters.

Cade’s determination was the key. I’ve never really seen him come out exclusively looking to shoot, but he was playing fast and aggressive from the tip. A lot of that was creating his own looks in transition, but it was also just an inability to keep him out of his spots in the mid-range by the Knicks.

Jalen Duren was another guy who answered the bell. He was LOST in Game 1, battling foul trouble and looking uncomfortable with the ball pressure when he had the ball away from the rim. From his powerful dunk in the first minute to the rest of the night, he was active and aggressive with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks.

It was infectious energy.

As unlikely as it was for the vets to ALLLLL click on the same night, it was just as unlikely that all of the young guys would play as poorly as they collectively did in the opener.

But can I say one thing:

DAMN, DOES IT FEEL GOOD TO WIN A PLAYOFF GAME!

It’ll be interesting to see the adjustments on top of the adjustments going into Game 3 at LCA. You know the old saying, “it’s not a series until the home team loses a game.”

Well, the home team lost a game. Now, I’d expect a raucous crowd in downtown Detroit on Thursday with the series wide open.

See ya there.