Audacy NBA Insider and Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine is taking the Knicks in their first playoff series since 2013, but he’s doing so with some doubt.
The Knicks have home court and regular season success against the Hawks, having won all three games against Atlanta, but recent games make Scalabrine wonder about New York’s ability to get crucial buckets in intense playoff games against tougher opponents.
“I love everything about the Knicks, especially in 2021…but they gotta put the ball in the hole,” Scalabrine told Moose & Maggie on Friday. “The Hawks are a much better team now than when they played them. So I’m going to pick the Knicks, but I’m apprehensive with my pick because I don’t know if they can score enough in the last five minutes of the game.”
The Knicks have shown struggles with scoring down the stretch, especially in the last week of the regular season. Offensive struggles in the fourth quarter led to an overtime loss against the Lakers, and more scoring droughts led to overtime against the Hornets and a near brutal collapse to the Celtics in the season finale, when the Knicks had a 17-point lead and barely hung on to clinch home court in the first round.
“I want to like the Knicks,” Scalabrine said. “I just don’t know if they’re able to score enough down the stretch. If you can tell me they’re going to score enough, then I’ll pick the Knicks. I watched the Knicks against Boston’s G-League team and they had a hard time scoring down the stretch. What about that Charlotte game when they had a hard time scoring down the stretch?”
Julius Randle has been the team’s offensive MVP this season, and he came alive in overtime against the Hornets to seal that much-needed victory last week. But he did so not by filling up the scoring column, but by assisting on three crucial buckets to give New York some breathing room, and the Knicks will need more of that from Randle in late and close games.
They’ll also need to avoid the dagger 3-pointers that the Hawks are capable of burying late in games, especially Bogdan Bogdanovich, who hit 43.8 percent of his threes in the regular season, good for 11th in the league.
“Can the Knicks defend the three or can Julius Randle make plays down the stretch?” Scalabrine said. “Can the Knicks score, and can they defend the three? When they beat Atlanta, this is a different team. They have much more 3-point shooting on the floor. I know they’re really good at defending…it’s one of those things where they’re gonna have to figure out how to defend the 3-point shooting for Atlanta. It’s going to be a big series for Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson…they’ll be required to make plays at the rim so guys can be out defending the perimeter and not in rotations all night.”
Of course, much of New York’s defensive focus will have to be on Trae Young, but Scalarine believes the Knicks’ defensive toughness that has been praised all season will become a major factor as the series moves along when it comes to containing the dynamic Young.
“They’re going to have to dominate their matchup and dominate their space,” Scalabrine said. “If Derrick Rose wants to take Trae Young…he’s going to have to get to where he wants to be on the floor. That triggers so much for the Knicks when he does get to those spots on the floor and can put Atlanta in tough situations…if you can work Trae Young and make him defend every possession when he’s out there, there’s a good chance he won’t be able to dominate the game on the offensive end. It’s like body shots. Maybe it won’t work in game one or two, but eventually, Trae Yung is going to feel all those hits and all those times Derrick Rose or any of the big guards on the Knicks punishing him because of his size.”
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