Open the top piston ring gap and that will not happen.
Too much heat, not enough ring gap, equalls top ring land breaking off because the ring ends butt together and literally hold the piston in place a TDC while the crank tries to pull it down, and off come the ring land.
Knock alone does not cause that. It is the sudden rise in cumbustion tempereature, and not enough heat transfer to the cyl. walls due to the thin, low drag rings used.