Many would describe the New York Knicks-Detroit Pistons series as physical, exhausting, mentally draining, chaotic, and a back-and-forth boxing match.
The Knicks ended up with the series victory, but it came with adversity. New York often struggled to score against a tough and physical Detroit defense. The offensive struggles were so bad that the Pistons went on massive runs after leading for most of the game, and it felt like the Knicks did not play up to standards.
The game changer was undoubtedly Jalen Brunson, the best player of the series, always coming in clutch for the Knicks and potentially saving Tom Thibodeau’s job.
Jalen Brunson’s heroics
Captain Clutch is back again.
Jalen Brunson ended the Pistons’ season with his game-winning three on Thursday night. Ausar Thompson is one of the best defenders in the league, and he made Brunson work harder this series, but he could not do enough. Brunson crossed up Thompson, nailed the three, and did his signature celebration as the Detroit crowd, chanting “flopper” earlier, did not say a word.
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Brunson averaged 31.5 points per game over the series, and his 24.8 field goal attempts per game are the most by a single player in the playoffs so far. When Brunson tries to do too much by himself on the offensive end, it can hurt the team, but when he has his jump shot going like he did in Game 6, no one can stop him.
Most times, the Knicks would rather have the ball in Brunson’s hands down the stretch, but it should not happen for the entire time he is on the court.
Offensive struggles against the Pistons
Even though the Knicks won, they had a rough series against the Pistons.
They never had that signature wire-to-wire victory against Detroit, and you can credit the Pistons for making it difficult. However, Tom Thibodeau is a critical reason why the Knicks cannot seem to find consistency on offense.
The Knicks do not get enough three-point shots from Karl-Anthony Towns. Thibs’ lack of featuring Towns in the offense has been an ongoing issue since the beginning of the regular season. Thibs’ only offensive system seems to revolve around isolation, and this worked with Julius Randle because Randle is a great isolation/post-up player.
But Karl-Anthony Towns is not Julius Randle. KAT is a phenomenal three-point shooter with a good isolation and post-up game, but he is not a fit in Thibs’ offensive scheme.
Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart are inconsistent scorers in isolation and are left out of the offense when Brunson and KAT possess the ball. It feels like the starting lineup met each other five minutes ago and decided to play pickup basketball. There is zero continuity with the Knicks’ offense, and the only reason they achieved 50 wins this year is because the team is talented enough to get away with it.
Outlook against Boston
Try your best is the overall message.
Make it ugly, maybe start a fight, and stay physical. The Celtics usually play a clean five-out offensive scheme, so the Knicks need to swarm and show extra physicality. The Celtics have great players up and down their lineup, but Kristaps Porzingis is who the Knicks should be most worried about. He has shot 50% from three against the Knicks since 2023, and in his most recent game against the Knicks on April 8, he dropped 34 points with eight three-pointers.
Thibs did not get much production out of his bench in the first round against the Pistons. Miles McBride is not shooting well, and Cameron Payne had one good game and disappeared for the rest of the series. Mitchell Robinson is the only bench player making any contribution, but he is primarily there for rebounding and defense, not scoring.
The Knicks need more from the bench if they want to compete with Boston. Otherwise, they will be swept or lose five games.
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