PG: Awful gameplan, not prepared, not 1 good performance

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Your two big lineup got us playing Precious Achiuwa out of desperation

We had 17 turnovers as a team. How many points did we get back from his offensive rebounds? Plenty

Josh was -1 for the game and your boy was -20

Josh helped keep us in the game otherwise it would have been a complete blowout from the jump if we kept rolling with your lineup

9 point loss, I have just shown you 3 turnovers that resulted in 6 points. Keep defending

The guys you want starting

Robinson
6 points
4 fouls
-20

Deuce
3 points
0 assists
1 turnover
-14

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

[MrDollarBills]

I don't know what to make of Mikal yet. We aren't in the ECF without him. He has had huge moments especially in the 4th qtr. But too much during the 1st halfs of games he isn't being impactful enough. Its year one so they aren't giving up on him yet...and he's likely to sign a team friendly extension.

I also don't think he is the reason we are losing the the pacers...not being able to cover up brunson defensive issues is what is losing this series.



we have never been destroyed in brunsons minutes like this. Remember the last two post seasons we couldn't survive the non brunson minutes...now they are actively hurting us.

the problem is when he doesn't have the ball in his hands he's supposed to spread the court. but he doesn't really feel confident in that and maybe he shouldn't.

oh I'm not denying his struggles especially from range. I also don't think he was ever going to fill the DD high volume 3 pt role either. He shot 50% from the field this year he was our 2nd best starter in terms of +/- throughout the year. He has played really good defense all playoffs and has had some monster 4th qtrs in sports...but the confidence and consistency swing way too much. The fact he actively tries to avoid contact is an issue.

In 4 games this series we are just getting owned in the Brunson minutes though...we have never been in that position before.

Do you think Brunson's ankle is making this worse? I don't recall getting picked apart like this ever with Brunson in the line up.

[MrDollarBills]

9 point loss, I have just shown you 3 turnovers that resulted in 6 points. Keep defending

The guys you want starting

Robinson
6 points
4 fouls
-20

Deuce
3 points
0 assists
1 turnover
-14

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

Multiple yellow jerseys around Karl and he forces that pass.

He knows better

[K_ick_God]

The difference between Indiana and Boston, besides depth but Boston has shooting depth, is that Boston wasn’t going to gameplan for the Knicks or change the way they play.

Boston was gonna let Tatum win the game and take a lot of 3s. They won a title that way.

Indiana got gifted a game in G1 and used it to springboard. They played well at the start of G1, hit their first 8, and we still won handily if Thibs had not committed gross negligence. 0g did too.

Knicks stopped believing and Indiana made a concerted effort to watch what we did and counter it. Thibs seemed to do little to prepare or to adjust based on what was happening on the court. The game does NOT tell him what to do lol.

[robillionaire]

It's Mikal, if he were the guy they thought they were getting, we'd be winning this series with ease. Losing his shot and being afraid of contact is just death. We're going through what the Sixer fans went through over the years with Ben Simmons culminating in passing up on that layup against the Hawks, except it's all happened in one season for us with him.

i won't argue that. he's not close to fulfilling the cost we paid for him. he's had moments where he's been great for shorter stretches in big moments in the playoffs but his inconsistency is maddening. we got him to be a 3 & d player who could also do more. but the shot got messed up before we ever got him and the defense, while good at times, is not consistent enough. so he's not even really being a good role player.

I will never understand why he changed his shot, it just made no sense and why nobody stepped in to tell him not to do it is crazy. I don't even know what they can do with him, you either trade him or hold out hope he fixes the shot, there's nothing in between that. After these playoffs, who is going to trade for him too?

We gotta keep him and hope he turns the corner. Too much invested. He played 17 games without Brunson this year. His stats were much better.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/mikal-bridges-averages-with-and-without-brunson-2025

3 fewer minutes per game(so per 36 even more egregious). More points 17.1 to 19.7, more assists, fg% increases from 48.6 to 55.6, 3pt% from 35 to 37.7, more than double the free throw attempts per game and higher percentage, ts% from 57 to 64.

Ben Simmons
Mikal
OG
Giannis
Towns

Lfg

Read on Twitter

[GONYK]

Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Miles McBride, Mikal Bridges

Net: 18.71
OTR: 155.56
DTR: 136.84

Only 8 minutes

This should have been the starting lineup change, not Mitch.

If you have KAT on your roster, you maximize offense, not try to stop the bleeding on defense.

[HEZI]

9 point loss, I have just shown you 3 turnovers that resulted in 6 points. Keep defending

The guys you want starting

Robinson
6 points
4 fouls
-20

Deuce
3 points
0 assists
1 turnover
-14

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

Notice the score is always a close or tie game. Not the case when he’s on the bench though because

-20 and -14

[god shammgod]

i won't argue that. he's not close to fulfilling the cost we paid for him. he's had moments where he's been great for shorter stretches in big moments in the playoffs but his inconsistency is maddening. we got him to be a 3 & d player who could also do more. but the shot got messed up before we ever got him and the defense, while good at times, is not consistent enough. so he's not even really being a good role player.

I will never understand why he changed his shot, it just made no sense and why nobody stepped in to tell him not to do it is crazy. I don't even know what they can do with him, you either trade him or hold out hope he fixes the shot, there's nothing in between that. After these playoffs, who is going to trade for him too?

We gotta keep him and hope he turns the corner. Too much invested. He played 17 games without Brunson this year. His stats were much better.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/mikal-bridges-averages-with-and-without-brunson-2025

3 fewer minutes per game(so per 36 even more egregious). More points 17.1 to 19.7, more assists, fg% increases from 48.6 to 55.6, 3pt% from 35 to 37.7, more than double the free throw attempts per game and higher percentage, ts% from 57 to 64.

Ben Simmons
Mikal
OG
Giannis
Towns

Lfg

Read on Twitter

i mean.....he'd probably improve our bench

[robillionaire]

The guys you want starting

Robinson
6 points
4 fouls
-20

Deuce
3 points
0 assists
1 turnover
-14

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

Multiple yellow jerseys around Karl and he forces that pass.

He knows better

Even if Karl was Kemp he wouldn’t be doing anything with that because he threw the ball low directly at the defender. Nobody is doing anything with that garbage

[Guano]

The pain of this ECF will be over soon….

The thing with grief is it never goes away we just learn how to live with it.

[MrDollarBills]

The team's preparation has been garbage, but guys on the floor need to be held accountable.

The lack of communication on defense is piss poor stuff from a group of guys who should know better. The brain dead turnovers is on them too.

How is it that KAT and JB score only 4 points in the 4th? Two All NBA players should never be shut down like this.

This is where I agree with JVG: It's not just one thing. Tom is getting his ass whipped and so are the players.

oh, dont get it twisted...I hold guys accountable. After Harts 5th turnover - I washed my hands from the game and annouce I dont care if they lose
because if they do they deserve it. You cant play like that in the ECF vs ANY TEAM and expect to win- especially on the road.
Regardless, Thibs has failed at his job. Not only in this series but all year because he had these guys before the playoffs and didnt play them enough.
How can Delon and shamet build chemistry in the ECF?! its a joke!

Shamet was injured for months to start the year and Delon didn’t come until the trade deadline. Could still have made an effort to play them more but… these are stop gap guys on their way out of the league, not guys who take you to the finals. They could play together all they want and that wouldn’t change

relying on Payne all year instead of injecting Delon right away was a big blunder in hindsight. but I thought payne had his moments in the season. Even in game 1 against Detroit he won that game. And he brings some playoff experience. But he’s been a major disaster in the last 2 series.

There is also nepotism at play with Payne because he is Mikals roommate and he wanted him to secure the next bag. Took this long to shut him down

Yep you're right Shamet wasn't healthy.

There is zero excuse as to why Wright didn't continue to be in the rotation after Brunson came back tho. He is a serviceable player that provides an actual need on a team where defense is just non existent.

On a team that is so top heavy, managing to find a way to get some consistent bench contribution is critical. Tom didn't think it was. Like I said yesterday before the game, after your top 7 guys you're mostly fielding average players. You have to carve out roles for them in areas that they are strong in. Wright absolutely should have had a role. His POA defense would have helped a lot.

That's why people were screaming about him playing a 7 man rotation in December. That stuff didn't do the team any favors.

[Guano]

I did not just open this forsaken hell-site to get hit with Ben Simmons roster ideas.

You guys are the WORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NoDopeOnSundays]

The guys you want starting

Robinson
6 points
4 fouls
-20

Deuce
3 points
0 assists
1 turnover
-14

Did this man think he was GP and Karl was Kemp? Who told him he could make that pass.

Notice the score is always a close or tie game. Not the case when he’s on the bench though because

-20 and -14

We lost by 9, he gave up around 11-13 points off turnovers, he quite literally assisted the Pacers.

Also, most of Hart's minutes were with KAT who was plus, also if it comes down to plus/minus they should have just played Wright and Shamet over the turnover machine.

[Capn'O]

The difference between Indiana and Boston, besides depth but Boston has shooting depth, is that Boston wasn’t going to gameplan for the Knicks or change the way they play.

Boston was gonna let Tatum win the game and take a lot of 3s. They won a title that way.

Indiana got gifted a game in G1 and used it to springboard. They played well at the start of G1, hit their first 8, and we still won handily if Thibs had not committed gross negligence. 0g did too.

Knicks stopped believing and Indiana made a concerted effort to watch what we did and counter it. Thibs seemed to do little to prepare or to adjust based on what was happening on the court. The game does NOT tell him what to do lol.

Indiana also has the personnel to slow down Brunson, attack his dribble, and cut off his passing lanes and they've put all of their resources into doing it. They're constantly pressuring him and sending a second cover to pick his dribble when he turns his back. As a result, his assists are way down and his turnovers are way up. He's always looking over his shoulder and is losing track of his role as a lead much more than usual for him. Brunson by and large handled Boston's coverages and was able to control the ball and the game. Indiana has let him get his but rattled him by swarming everything but his ISOs.

Carlisles a cagey ol' bird and he's fighting mean.

[MrDollarBills]

The pain of this ECF will be over soon….

The thing with grief is it never goes away we just learn how to live with it.

What is grief, but love persevering?

[NoDopeOnSundays]

i won't argue that. he's not close to fulfilling the cost we paid for him. he's had moments where he's been great for shorter stretches in big moments in the playoffs but his inconsistency is maddening. we got him to be a 3 & d player who could also do more. but the shot got messed up before we ever got him and the defense, while good at times, is not consistent enough. so he's not even really being a good role player.

I will never understand why he changed his shot, it just made no sense and why nobody stepped in to tell him not to do it is crazy. I don't even know what they can do with him, you either trade him or hold out hope he fixes the shot, there's nothing in between that. After these playoffs, who is going to trade for him too?

We gotta keep him and hope he turns the corner. Too much invested. He played 17 games without Brunson this year. His stats were much better.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/mikal-bridges-averages-with-and-without-brunson-2025

3 fewer minutes per game(so per 36 even more egregious). More points 17.1 to 19.7, more assists, fg% increases from 48.6 to 55.6, 3pt% from 35 to 37.7, more than double the free throw attempts per game and higher percentage, ts% from 57 to 64.

Ben Simmons
Mikal
OG
Giannis
Towns

Lfg

Read on Twitter

I AND1 this not because I agree, but because this is completely unhinged


There being a Ben Simmons sweepstakes is crazy.

[robillionaire]

:lol:
I did not just open this forsaken hell-site to get hit with Ben Simmons roster ideas.

You guys are the WORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We aim to please. Thanks for choosing real gm for your basketball needs. Have a blessed day

[MrDollarBills]

:lol:
I did not just open this forsaken hell-site to get hit with Ben Simmons roster ideas.

You guys are the WORST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben who???

Nah that's worthy of a belt across the back.

[Capn'O]

Both teams have stretches where they play as poorly as each other. The Pacers just have better individual offensive players and more consistent shooters. Knicks fans seem to think Delon Wright is as good as Mathurin and KAT is Dirk.

NO. We think he's important in this series to release pressure from Brunson. Wright is a tactical response to what Carlisle is throwing at Brunson and when he's played it has worked.

It has nothing to do with this video game player rating ****. We need additional playmaking, ball handlings, and guard defense to slow Indy's attack on the other end and those are the things Wright can do well.

[mpharris36]

the problem is when he doesn't have the ball in his hands he's supposed to spread the court. but he doesn't really feel confident in that and maybe he shouldn't.

oh I'm not denying his struggles especially from range. I also don't think he was ever going to fill the DD high volume 3 pt role either. He shot 50% from the field this year he was our 2nd best starter in terms of +/- throughout the year. He has played really good defense all playoffs and has had some monster 4th qtrs in sports...but the confidence and consistency swing way too much. The fact he actively tries to avoid contact is an issue.

In 4 games this series we are just getting owned in the Brunson minutes though...we have never been in that position before.

Do you think Brunson's ankle is making this worse? I don't recall getting picked apart like this ever with Brunson in the line up.

I'm sure it is playing a part. He was more active even in the post series. He seems limited but that also has to be on thibs and brunson to make an adjustment playing him for shorter stints and get rest because he doesn't have the extra pop.