The Knicks are officially in a battle in their first-round series with the Pistons, as Detroit avoided a second straight fourth-quarter collapse to even things up at one game apiece.
Suddenly, New York faces a critical game three as the series shifts to the Motor City, and the third-seeded ‘Bockers will battle to avoid what would be a disastrous first-round exit if things don’t shift in a hurry. The series is tied, but aside from a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter of game one, the Knicks have been widely outplayed through two games of this series.
So, what needs to change for the Knicks to get back on track and take care of business against this upstart Detroit squad? Let’s look at the key factors that will determine where the series goes from here:
Get KAT more involved on offense
Karl-Anthony Towns was acquired in a blockbuster trade prior to this season, as the Knicks gave up Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to shake up the core and chemistry of the team to raise its ceiling from a talent perspective. The move was warranted, but making that trade only to get KAT three field goal attempts in the second half of a playoff game is utterly unacceptable.
Arguably the best shooting big man of all time didn’t take a shot after the midway point of the third quarter, and while part of that is on KAT himself and needing to be more aggressive, it is also an indictment on the head coach and the floor general in Jalen Brunson. Towns is a gifted scorer that should be a focal point of the offense, and to be used as nothing more than a floor spacer in crunch time is not a recipe for playoff success. Tom Thibodeau has to put an emphasis on getting Towns touches in Detroit.
Jalen Brunson needs to alter his style
This goes somewhat hand-in-hand with the Towns conversation, as Brunson needs to be more willing to get his teammates involved when the Knicks need a bucket. Sure, Brunson is as crafty and tough as is gets when it comes to going and getting a basket in clutch situations (he’s nominated for the Clutch Player of the Year award for a reason), but the Knicks brought in players like Towns to take the load off of Brunson. He needs to embrace that in this series.
Also in relation to Brunson, he clearly doesn’t look 100 percent after spraining his ankle during the regular season, and his toughness should be applauded as he continues to take hits in the paint and do his best to get to the line. But Detroit’s guards have clearly been up to the challenge in terms of matching physicality, and regardless of how much Thibodeau sounds off on the officiating “discrepancy,” the refs are clearly letting them play, so Brunson needs to change things up and not bang and bruise his way to 37 points.
Fight to keep OG Anunoby on Cade Cunningham
Anunoby did a fantastic job defensively on the Pistons star in game one, which isn’t much of a surprise. Anunoby had the credentials to be a Defensive Player of the Year nominee (although he was snubbed), and that defense was on display in the series opener.
Cunningham responded with a 33-point outburst in game two, though he only shot 40 percent on Monday when Anunoby was the primary defender, and for the series, is shooting just 33 percent in that scenario. The difference? Detroit ran more schemes to get Anunoby off Cunningham in game two, and it worked. Now, the Knicks and Thibodeau will have to break down the film and find a way to fight through or avoid those screens to make sure Cunningham has Anunoby in his face moving forward.