By Eddie Castro
In last week’s Column, the New York Knicks had the tough task of attempting to complete a 3-1 deficit against the Indiana Pacers. Last Thursday night, in a packed house at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks, led by Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns, were able to defeat the Pacers and force a Game 6 in Indiana.
Unfortunately, last Thursday’s game would prove to be the last home game for the Knicks this season.
New York was trying to make its first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999. In Game 6, fatigue appeared to be a contributing factor amongst other issues the team faced as to why they were eliminated by the Pacers in the postseason for the second year in a row. There are a few reasons why the Knicks weren’t able to take down Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers. First was New York’s failure to win the first two games at home.
I reiterated it during last week’s podcast: Game 1 could be the ultimate reason why the Knicks lost this series. In the fourth quarter of Game 1, they were up by 17 points with a little more than six minutes to go and up by 9 points with 58.8 seconds to go.
The second reason was the team trying to match Indiana’s tempo style of play. All season long, the Knicks’ identity was to play good enough defense and slow the pace of games.
In this Pacers series, it appeared Coach Tom Thibodeau was trying to match their speed instead of controlling the game’s pace. The game plan obviously failed. During the regular season, the Knicks ranked 27th in pace at 97.64 possessions per 48 minutes, where Indiana ranked 7th at 100.76. Last but not least were the turnovers and the defense.
New York gave up the second-most points per 100 possessions of any team in a Conference finals in the last 18 seasons. Their defense was just downright horrible. In Game 6, New York committed 18 turnovers. In this series, the Knicks committed more turnovers than the Pacers did, with the exception of one game.
Overall, the Knicks lost the turnover margin 93-75. With turnovers came instant, easy offense for Indiana. Those turnovers turned into points as Indiana crushed New York in points off turnovers by a score of 140-61.
So the question is, was this the Knicks’ highest ceiling to reach the NBA finals? This will be one of the most important off-seasons for the Knicks in recent memory. General Manager Leon Rose must address many things with this current roster.
The first duty should be adding depth. Indiana’s ability to play 10 to 11 players and get consistent minutes out of them became a huge advantage for them. In this Conference Finals, the Knicks had five players who averaged 8 points per game while the Pacers had eight. Having a bench is essential in today’s NBA.
Another question mark that will surround the team is whether they can add another star next to Jalen Brunson. The Knicks gave up a good portion of first-round (5 first-rounders 4 unprotected picks) to Brooklyn to acquire Mikal Bridges. Bottom line is there needs to be a huge upgrade to the roster if the team hopes to take the next step towards championship supremacy.
Sports Notes: (Basketball) although the New York Knicks are out of the playoffs, there is still two teams left. The NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. (Baseball) The Yankees wrap up a three-game set tonight vs the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium.
The team will then play the rival Boston Red Sox for the first time this season tomorrow night. As we go to press, the New York Mets have won four straight games and 7 out of their last 8. The team will wrap up their three-game set with the Dodgers tonight, then head to the Mile High City for a three-game set vs the Colorado Rockies.
Our Time Press universe, tune in to talk sports with Eddie in a brand new episode tonight at 5 PM live on our YouTube channel. Call in as I’ll discuss where the Knicks go from here and just how good the New York Mets can be this year if healthy.