Watch: Karl-Anthony Towns manhandling Paul Reed unleashes heated chaos in fiery Knicks vs Pistons clash

Things continued to be heated between the New York Knicks and Detroit Piston in Game 3 of their NBA first-round playoff series on Thursday. Big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Paul Reed got into early confrontation that started a near-fracas.

The incident took place with 51.8 seconds remaining in the opening quarter at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. While going down the Pistons side of the court, Reed got entangled with Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. The two then were on each other's faces after.

All-Star Towns decided to step into the picture and shove Reed away from Mitchell. The Pistons reserve tried to get back at Towns but was restrained by his teammates and the Detroit coaching staff. Further commotion ensued after between the teams until things settled down.

Following the dustup, Reed, Mitchell and Towns were all given technical fouls.

In Game 3, both the Knicks and Pistons were looking to get the series advantage after splitting the first two games in New York. The series is shaping up to be one of the more competitive and physical series in this year's playoffs.

New York is back in the playoffs for the third straight year and looking to improve on their back-to-back Eastern Conference semifinal finishes.

Meanwhile, Detroit is back in the postseason for the first time in six years after finishing the regular season as the sixth seed with a 44-38 record.

Pistons say they are ready for physical series with Knicks

The first-round NBA playoff series between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons is as physical as it gets. The Pistons, however, said they have no problem with it and instead embracing it.

Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff spoke about it following their hard-earned 100-94 Game 2 victory on Monday in New York to level the series at a game apiece.

Bickerstaff highlighted that they thrive in physicality, and he has no problem with the way games were being called in general.

He said:

"We're happy with the way the games are being called. We can survive physicality, so we've got no issue with it... I think the fouls are being called how they're being called."

Bickerstaff went to say:

"There’s alevel of physicality that the playoffs bring, and there’s always been that. Theteams that can survive it are the teams that are going to end up winning in theend. I think our guys have done a great job of maintaining their composure. Wehaven’t changed how we play."

New York Knicks v Detroit Pistons - Game Three - Source: Getty

The winner of the Knicks-Pistons series advances to the conference semifinals and takes on the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.