The third quarter of Game 6 in Indianapolis was drawing to a close. With the New York Knicks already trailing by 13 points against the Indiana Pacers, wing Josh Hart pushed the ball forward on a 3-on-1 fast break, a chance to reduce the deficit before the final period.
Knicks backup guard Deuce McBride had just stolen the ball from Indiana`s Tyrese Haliburton and passed it to Hart, who needed to make a smart play for a score. However, in a sequence that mirrored New York`s overall performance, Hart threw a wild lob pass to Karl-Anthony Towns that hit the backboard, giving Indiana a reprieve.
Just as they had done throughout the game, the Pacers quickly capitalized on the turnover, with Haliburton racing down the court for a dunk in just three seconds, extending Indiana`s lead to 15 points heading into the fourth quarter. The Eastern Conference champions then sealed their victory.
It was a difficult night for the Knicks, who followed a near-perfect Game 5 home win to avoid elimination with a frustratingly sloppy performance in Game 6. This type of loss, both for the game and the series, is likely to linger in the minds of the team and its fans throughout the summer.
Despite the missed opportunities against the Pacers, including a tough collapse in Game 1, it`s hard to deny that the Knicks exceeded expectations in their first season with a new core group of players.
Following two significant all-in trades – Mikal Bridges in July and Towns just before training camp – the focus in New York will now shift to how the Knicks can build on this unexpected postseason breakthrough and potentially reach the Finals for the first time since 1999.
Let`s examine three key areas that will likely require attention for them to take that next step.
Consider a Permanent Starting Lineup Adjustment
One of the more surprising league-wide statistics showed that the Knicks` starting five, the NBA`s most frequently used lineup by a significant margin, was outscored by nine points from January 1st through the end of the regular season.
Remarkably, despite this, New York still came close to making the Finals. This was largely due to Jalen Brunson`s clutch scoring and the team`s determined play in late-game situations, which often masked the slow starts and negative data from the starters.
Even though the current starting five has room to improve after their initial season together, coach Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks should be open to modifying the group. Notably, Thibodeau did make such a change late in the postseason. Josh Hart himself suggested tweaking the lineup to give center Mitchell Robinson more playing time near the end of New York`s series win against the Boston Celtics.
We saw the potential benefits of starting Robinson this past week: The Knicks immediately became a better offensive rebounding team, and Towns gained a rim protector capable of defending effectively out to the 3-point line. Conversely, replacing Hart with Robinson makes the Knicks slower in transition, where Hart excels, and more vulnerable to intentional fouls on Robinson due to his poor free-throw shooting.
Deepen the Bench Rotation
Tom Thibodeau made some effective decisions during the Eastern Conference finals. A notable one was incorporating guards Delon Wright and Landry Shamet into the rotation, which quickly paid off as the Knicks improved their defense against a previously dominant Indiana offense.
However, while the coach deserves credit, if Wright and Shamet could perform well when the stakes were highest (and the team was on the verge of the NBA Finals), perhaps Thibodeau could have relied on these reserves more during the regular season.
This is not to question Thibodeau`s future job security. He should be praised for finding ways to achieve this level of success in the playoffs, even if different approaches might have been taken earlier in the season. (Mikal Bridges, the NBA`s current “iron man,” essentially made this point in March, stating that while players love to play, there were other players on the Knicks` roster who could have absorbed more minutes.)
Still, given the immense minutes load on New York`s starting five of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Towns, the end-of-season data suggested diminishing returns might have occurred at a certain point. This indicates that other players deserved more playing time in the remaining minutes.
The Knicks have limited options to significantly improve their bench through free agency, aside from hoping high-priority veteran free agents primarily focused on winning a title might sign for less money.
New York`s reserves played the fewest minutes and scored the fewest points of any team this season. A substantial 93% of their salary cap is committed to their top six players (the starting five plus Mitchell Robinson). After McBride, who is under contract, the team`s next players in the rotation – Wright, Shamet, Cameron Payne, and Precious Achiuwa – will all become unrestricted free agents this summer.
Find Ways to Better Utilize the Brunson-Towns Pairing
Given that Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns finished two wins shy of an NBA Finals appearance in their first season playing together, and both made the All-NBA team, it might seem strange to critique their pairing.
However, maximizing their effectiveness will be crucial for determining the team`s potential next season. Their partnership was somewhat challenging initially. Towns saw the fewest shots per game among the starters in the first few games. After this was noted following a loss to Cleveland, Brunson made a point of passing to Towns frequently in the next game against Miami. Towns scored 44 points in that game, and his shot attempts were rarely a topic of discussion during the rest of the regular season.
What was discussed, however, was the quality of shots Towns was getting. Around the midway point of the season, teams started assigning their centers to guard Hart due to his shooting struggles. Opposing teams used guards and wings to defend Towns because they were better equipped to contest his shots at the 3-point line.
The first round against the Detroit Pistons, where Towns was guarded by Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren, provided perhaps the clearest example. Much like in the regular season, Towns was more effective against traditional big men compared to strong wing defenders. Integrating McBride into the offense could potentially help, limiting teams from packing the paint as they tend to do when Hart is on the floor.
But the defensive side of the equation was frequently exploited throughout the conference finals. It is extremely difficult to build an elite defense with the undersized Brunson at guard and the foul-prone Towns at center. Perhaps this was evident from the start, but the point was emphasized at times in the East finals when either Brunson, Towns, or both got into foul trouble after being repeatedly targeted in pick-and-roll situations.
Whoever ultimately secures the final spot in the starting lineup would either provide more defensive support near the rim for Towns (if someone like Robinson starts) or for Brunson and Bridges (if the fifth spot goes to someone like McBride). However, it is telling that a defense featuring a strong wing defender like Anunoby and a former Defensive Player of the Year runner-up in Bridges often struggled to get stops. This difficulty arises from the limitations at the top and bottom of those defensive alignments.
