What is this knicks problem in the pacers series?

[jezzerinho]

1. Pacers top duo of Hali Siakam is better than Brunson KAT. HUGE kudos to the IND front office for those 2 trades. The value they gave up for the return they got is borderline absurd.

2. Playing a 7 man rotation is a stupid idea. You will lose close games you should have won because of physical and mental fatigue and you run out of fouls to give up.

I really think it's as simple as that.

[jokeboy86]

Styles make fights. But also it was always hard to ignore that stat about the Knicks record against elite teams during the season and there were other signs too. They were extremely lucky that the Detroit series didn’t go 7 especially with Isaiah Stewart missing basically the whole series. Boston’s stupidity made that series easier for the Knicks than it should’ve been. So now we’re here. My fear for the Knicks long term is two things. One, I don’t know if you can win a title with Brunson as your best player not because of his talent but because how hard it’s been shown to win a title with a small guard as your best player. Two, I don’t know if you can win a title with Towns as your 2nd best player. I’ve never been overly impressed with Towns just like I was never overly impressed with Demarcus Cousins. And now that Towns is out of his athletic prime combined with low BBIQ and still below average defense it should be even more concerning.

[KayDee35]

Knicks are going into "Brunson time" too early and turn into a stagnant, predictable offense that burns clock and results in mostly mediocre shots. Brunson can make tough looks, no doubt. Indiana is generating better looks off of more player and ball movement.

The Knicks have to either shorten "Brunson time" or throw more wrinkles and feints into the Brunson iso to keep the defense off balance.

This one's on coaching.

I expect Thibs will adjust.

[Hoop Hunter]

A combo of the first 2 options. Still the Pacers played better in the last 2 minutes of each game. Simple as that.

Not like there is a huge gap between the teams. Before the series (and entire playoffs) most people WAY underestimated how good the Pacers talent actually is.

[DimesandKnicks]

The Knicks have poor PNR offense and PNR defense. All playoffs Brunson has tried to get his primary defender off of him but the player he’s targeting is really helping to fight so that they don’t. When Brunson and Kat get targeted Brunson just shows and Kat…idk what he does. But all it takes to get Kat and Brunson into the action is to target them and they don’t put up enough fight to not get targeted. We can run PNR all day and Nesmith will still be attached to Brunson because of their team PNR D. You have to fight to not get targeted

[Statlanta]

Overreliance on Brunson. I bet there's no universe Thibs benches Brunson for losing his man and playing bad D.

[cupcakesnake]

People need to just stop making stuff up about the Knicks having any offensive problems. They're scoring 122 points per game. They're absolutely scoring more than enough points against Indiana's defense. You can't ask for a team to score much more than this.

Indiana is scoring 126. At some point Nembhard and Nesmith will miss a 3-pointer, and when that happens, the Knicks need to make sure they're cleaning up some of the other stuff. No more surrendering post mismatches and transition buckets to Siakam. I feel they're trying too hard to shut down Haliburton. Indiana is too versatile to overload on anyone.

[Statlanta]

People need to just stop making stuff up about the Knicks having any offensive problems. They're scoring 122 points per game. They're absolutely scoring more than enough points against Indiana's defense. You can't ask for a team to score much more than this.

Indiana is scoring 126. At some point Nembhard and Nesmith will miss a 3-pointer, and when that happens, the Knicks need to make sure they're cleaning up some of the other stuff. No more surrendering post mismatches and transition buckets to Siakam. I feel they're trying too hard to shut down Haliburton. Indiana is too versatile to overload on anyone.

You can have offensive issues while still being an efficient offense. It is not a zero sum game. Haliburton and the Pacers are dictating the tempo more than Brunson and the Knicks is and it is part because of the overwhelming load on him as a ball-handler. Brunson will not last as the Knicks now need this to be a long series due to coughing up two games at home. Thibs rotation needs to grow, not shrink if the series is going to be longer and benching Towns will come to haunt him should the Knicks lose the series.

[JXL]

It's simple: Pacers are using multiple bodies to slow down Brunson, and targeting Brunson on defense to tire him out at end of games.

The solution: Weaponize KAT offensively. Creatively open him into pick and pop and occasionally use him in the post. Also, extend bench time (but don't play Cam Payne anymore). Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson are big reasons why the last 2 games are close as they are.

Currently, they're going to put Robinson in the starting lineup and move Hart to the bench. Good idea. I think Robinson's activity on the glass has hurt the Pacers as his presence doesn't allow them to push the pace. It also should open more possessions for the pick and pop for KAT to hunt 3PT shots.

[AdamSSSlither]

kat being benched in 4 qtr....

nesmith w/ and all time great 3 minute playoff performance...

brunson's cocky attitude...

the magnets that made haliburtons buzzer shot drop..

thibs choosing def over offense.

rick carlisle.

[ChuckChilly]

I think it's their offense. OG and Bridges should be able to get 15 - 20 points every night, even on a bad game, but that doesn't happen for them consistently. KAT also falls in that category. So maybe it is the coaches fault for not designing a offense that's more fluid to put those players in better positions to get the numbers that they should.

[JujitsuFlip]

I think it's their offense. OG and Bridges should be able to get 15 - 20 points every night, even on a bad game, but that doesn't happen for them consistently. KAT also falls in that category. So maybe it is the coaches fault for not designing a offense that's more fluid to put those players in better positions to get the numbers that they should.

In the first 2 games of the ECF KAT is averaging 27.5 PPG, Bridges is averaging 18 PPG, and OG is averaging 16 PPG.

[ChuckChilly]

I think it's their offense. OG and Bridges should be able to get 15 - 20 points every night, even on a bad game, but that doesn't happen for them consistently. KAT also falls in that category. So maybe it is the coaches fault for not designing a offense that's more fluid to put those players in better positions to get the numbers that they should.

In the first 2 games of the ECF KAT is averaging 27.5 PPG, Bridges is averaging 18 PPG, and OG is averaging 16 PPG.

OK, I stand corrected. I guess I was thinking too much about the past series then. Maybe it is simply just a case of the Pacers being able to score more when it matters.

[flow]

Pacers are the fresher team down the stretch.

Carlisle is subbing waves of players in & out with little drop-off throughout the game.

They've got:
* 3 floor generals who can all get to the rim, 2 of whom can also shoot
* 3 other guards/sf's who can shoot
* 2 bigs who can shoot and attack the basket
* another big who can bang
* a forward who can do it all


The Knicks have quality players, some who are better than Ind, but they're getting worn down.

.

[flow]

People need to just stop making stuff up about the Knicks having any offensive problems. They're scoring 122 points per game. They're absolutely scoring more than enough points against Indiana's defense. You can't ask for a team to score much more than this.

Indiana is scoring 126. At some point Nembhard and Nesmith will miss a 3-pointer, and when that happens, the Knicks need to make sure they're cleaning up some of the other stuff. No more surrendering post mismatches and transition buckets to Siakam. I feel they're trying too hard to shut down Haliburton. Indiana is too versatile to overload on anyone.

And then maybe Mathurin will finally make one. He hasn't done anything yet in this series.

.

[kenwood3333]

Bad luck and fatigue at the end of each game.

[JujitsuFlip]

I'd say our main problem until now was that in both games we scored a few points less than the Pacers. If we manage to score more points than them next game, I'm pretty sure we'll win the game, heck if we manage to do this 4 times within the next 5 games even the whole series.

You all can't let the Pacers shoot 40%+ from 3. That is where it starts and ends.

Whatta know, Pacers shoot 20% from 3 and finally drop a game in the ECF.

[walk with me]

Bump

[cgf]

Free throws.

[knicksfan974]

Can't believe how the Knicks continuously allowed the Pacers to leak out for lay ups and dunks. Thibs just couldn't control this aspect of the series at all.