Sooner or later, this will all catch up to the New York Knicks. Unless they adjust. Now.
New York needed an 11-1 run and a Jalen Brunson game-winning 3 in the final minutes of Game 6 Thursday — nearly two weeks after it needed a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter of Game 1 — to close out the Detroit Pistons 116-113. Yet what should concern New York is that its other essential player, center Karl-Anthony Towns, was relegated to watching Brunson’s heroics from the bench, having fouled out.
The Knicks will face the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics, the defending NBA champions, a team with length and shooters all over the floor that will test New York in new ways. And it’s difficult to picture the Knicks pulling off the upset if this is the Towns they will get.
The Pistons exposed serious flaws in New York’s operation. For one, the Knicks lack depth and rely far too much on the starting unit. On Thursday night, the Pistons bench outscored New York’s by a margin of 31-6, and that tally in the series overall was 184-69.
That lack of depth, in turn, has made the minutes when Brunson is on the bench precarious. But even the minutes when Brunson returns to the floor have been spotty, with New York sometimes slow to recapture its rhythm.
This is precisely the time for Towns to take over, to ease the pressure to shorten Brunson’s minutes off the floor.
For another, the Knicks have had brutal stretches when turnovers and ball watching on offense degrade shot selection. Often, that has been coming out of halftime. Before Thursday, the Knicks had been outscored in each third quarter in the first round.
The Knicks, however, used Detroit’s aggressive tendencies against its own players; New York went at the Pistons coming out of halftime, baiting them into early foul trouble. By the eight-minute mark in the period, the Knicks were already in the bonus. In the third quarter alone, the Knicks attempted 16 free throws, making 11.
That slowed the game, preventing Detroit from breaking out into transition. The Knicks won the quarter, 37-24.
But in the fourth, New York reverted to sloppy play, committing four turnovers in the first six minutes. At stretches, the Knicks appeared tired, and the Pistons went on a 25-9 extended run to open a seven-point lead with 2:35 left.
Brunson, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year, took over in the final minutes, scoring eight of the team’s last 11 points, including the game-winning crossover 3-pointer over Ausar Thompson.
That means that New York needed to come from behind in the fourth quarter in three of its four victories this series. It’s also worth noting that officials determined that a foul should’ve been called on Detroit’s attempt at a game-winning 3 in Game 4.
“It’s all about us staying poised and having our composure,” Brunson said of New York’s ability to come from behind. “Obviously we want to have it throughout the game but it’s most important at the end.”
This is also why the Knicks need a lot more out of Towns.
He finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting Thursday, ranking fourth on the team in shot attempts. He was a force on the glass, collecting 15 rebounds. But Towns scored three points in the second half and attempted just four shots; Brunson, by comparison, put up 20 shots after intermission and scored half of his 40 points.
Towns is a supremely gifted 7-footer with elite range and spacing ability. He was instrumental in the fourth quarter of Game 4, hitting a pair of difficult shots to give New York the late lead.
Boston won’t be nearly as forgiving. The Celtics have their own stretch big in Kristaps Porziņģis, who can knock down 30-foot 3-pointers but also can protect the rim. Having Towns be effective from the perimeter will be crucial in keeping Porziņģis out of the paint.
“Every series is different, but we can learn from our experiences as we go on,” Brunson said. “We’re playing against the defending champs next time, so it’s going to be a lot different. Playing this team that we just played — I’m not discrediting them at all — but the Celtics have experience. Playing these guys, they were just physical. They brought the fight to us and we had to respond. And then we did.
“… You have to respect each opponent you play and then you have to go from there and make adjustments. Everything is going to be different.”
Game 1 is Monday in Boston.