Wednesday night was a gut punch. After a stunning 138-135 loss to the Pacers in overtime, the Knicks have to regroup quickly.
New York held a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter with just 3:40 left before conceding 23 points to Indiana for the rest of regulation.
Despite all the reasons for doom and gloom, the Knicks should not panic. There was a list of positives to build on ahead of Game 2 on Friday night.
First, is how efficient the team’s offense was for the majority of Wednesday night. New York’s offense scored 126.2 points per 100 possessions in Game 1 — a figure that would lead the league in the regular season.
The Pacers don’t switch heavily on the pick-and-roll and their perimeter defenders try to go over every screen. It fits the way they want to play, which is fast and aggressive. But it also allowed New York’s stars Jalen Brunson andKarl-Anthony Towns to cook. The duo combined for an efficient 78 points. Brunson and Towns also were able to regularly march to the charity stripe as they combined for 25 free-throw attempts.
Towns is a different player when guarded by a center. Except for a few attempts to have wing Aaron Nesmith or Pascal Siakam defend him, Pacers big men Myles Turner and Thomas Bryant were assigned to Towns for much of the night.
Towns thrived from deep, knocking down four three-pointers. Against the Celtics, he made just three trifectas in six games. Brunson was able to get to his spots and had advantages offensively. With 43 points on over 50 percent shooting, it was probably one of the easier offensive nights he will have.
Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride both were solid off the bench. As I hinted at before the series, Robinson is the Knicks’ X-factor. He had eight rebounds in 21 minutes, with four boards coming on the offensive end.
The Knicks could look at more minutes of Towns and Robinson together. The two centers on the floor at the same time has been positive. In 97 minutes during the postseason, Towns and Robinson have outscored opponents by 13.0 points per 100 possessions, per NBA Stats. In Game 1, they were a plus-seven.
It’s not all roses
Even with the positives, it would be hard to ignore the concerns. The Knicks gave up 138 points. Tyrese Haliburton was comfortable and got downhill several times. There were also too many times the point guard found himself wide open for three.
The Knicks also failed to contain Nesmith, who hit six three-pointers in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. All of the shots were wide open, which sparked Indiana’s comeback.
The main culprit for those mistakes was New York’s inconsistent approach to defending screens. As the game wore on, New York’s players seemed unsure if they were switching or fighting through off-ball screens.
Indiana is a relentless team. Led by Haliburton, they thrive off the pass and man movement. If New York is going to defend better, the team has to be more crisp and communicate better.
Even more of a concern is the continued struggles of New York’s starting lineup. The five man unit has logged a league-high in minutes together and has a negative 8.0 net rating in 292 playoff minutes. They were a negative 16 in the Conference Finals opener. Head coach Tom Thibodeau could make lineup or strategic adjustments.
The loss stings, but there was some good the Knicks can take from it. If the team continues to produce offensively and makes defensive adjustments, they can even this series.
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