The Knicks fell into an 0-2 deficit at home against the Pacers and now face an uphill battle to make the NBA Finals. In the view of James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, the main reason for New York’s struggles is the fact the starting lineup is a minus-29 through two games and isn’t meshing well overall.
This isn’t a new issue, as the starters were outscored by 21 points in their first two playoff series combined and were a net negative between Jan. 1 and the end of the regular season. The individual talent level of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns is significant, but it isn’t working on the court, Edwards writes.
“Obviously, we can finger-point and say this is wrong, that’s wrong,” Brunson said. “It’s this person’s fault, that person’s fault. But collectively, we have to get it together. That’s really it.”
Given the time crunch the Knicks are facing, making a starting lineup change sooner rather than later could be in the club’s best interest. New York has played its best when three or four starters are playing alongside one or both of Miles McBride or Mitchell Robinson.
We have more from the Knicks:
- The Knicks ended up sitting Towns for a near-seven-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, with Robinson taking his place during that time. Robinson finished the game as a +6 in 29 minutes while Towns was a -20 in 28 minutes. “Just, we got in a hole, and then the group that was in there gave us a chance,” coach Tom Thibodeau said about the decision to sit Towns for that stretch, per The Athletic’s Joe Vardon. “So we were just riding [that lineup]. We’re searching for a win.“
- Hart lobbied for Robinson to play more in Game 3 and beyond, per the New York Post’s Zach Braziller. “We have to figure out ways — I think he played [29] minutes — figure out ways if he can play more,” Hart said. “We’re great with him on [the floor]. We all got to be willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team.” Robinson has totaled 17 rebounds and four blocks in the first two games of the series.
- Hart and Anunoby were among the Knicks’ worst performers in Game 2, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post opines in a subscriber-only story. Bondy said neither player had a particularly strong impact offensively or defensively, outside of a couple three-pointers from Anunoby. Hart spoke about his outing after the game. “Yeah, it was tough to find ways to [be me], ways to help the team,” he said, per the New York Post’s Peter Botte. “Obviously, that quick foul trouble kind of puts you in a position to not being as aggressive. So that was a tough one. Just one of those games. Shots will be there some games, some they won’t.”
Credit to knicks, seriously. Playing their butts off
Just always 1 step behind indy
1 less shot
1 less stop
Time to pack bags for offseason bahamas trip
The main reason why NY isn’t doing well is because they aren’t a top 4 team, they stole Boston’s spot while being a worse team than they are. Same goes for the Wolves, who stole the Warriors rightful spot. This is why both are being swept right now.
Though some may try, it’d be difficult to dispute these claims, Davey J. Hindsight is usually 20/20 – unless there’s birdcrap on the back windshield – and, yeah, the series isn’t OFFICIALLY over yet, but….you wanna know the moment for ME when I thought “I absolutely CANNOT take you guys seriously as title contenders, Knickerbockers!” It was the Saturday night, nationally televised game the Knicks lost to the short-handed, road-weary Lakers. AD was out with the abdominal injury; little did he know he was about about to be dealt mere minutes(?) after that game. I could not – and STILL cannot – believe the Knicks blew that one, allowing Brawny Sensation to dance all over the MSG floor. I know it was just ONE LOSS – and I know hindsight is usually 20/20 – but that disappointing display of basketball hinted to me it’s not the Knicks year. Based on that, fans of the team should be happy with a conference finals appearance.
I mean my fave team is the Warriors, named after….Warriors
The Knicks are named after…underwear…
Just contract them and the Nets and give NYC 2 expansion teams that aren’t a pox on the league!
Gotta admit I LOLed at “underwear”
Trolling.. my goodness. 🤦♂️
Also: I called the game before the game
link to hoopsrumors.com
This what happens when you sniff Currys shorts for years. Worse than crank …..
Rightful is a weird take, wadr. The Warriors and Celtics got beat. Had Curry not gotten hurt, then maybe it’s a different outcome. The Cs got to the finals a year ago by beating teams that were all banged up and playing shorthanded. But there’s no asterisk next to the 24 Celts in the record book.
Tatum and KP were both not 100% for that title run.
Brunson isn’t getting everyone involved. That’s what it comes down to. They’ll never win with him trying to do everything.
They’ll never win, period.
Brunson is a phenomenal 2nd guy, not a 1st. The Luka/Brunson backcourt would have been historic. Instead Brunson gets sent to Siberia where he can throw up as many 47 point -7 games as he wants. If the second guy is KAT…the Knicks are such a joke, what a bunch of frauds. Thanks for booting a superior team and denying us fans from a longer series. God do I hate the Knicks man lol
why don’t you tell us how you really feel… stop holding back. 😁
That second round win tho! Possibly most exciting thing in Knicks history.
Brunson is feeding Kat for 30 foot perimeter shots and hart for inside misses. The Knicks have no bench my friend and are being used up,by the time it matters most. Tibs is Tibs .
The bench is not the issue.
I saw Stephen A Smith blaming the coach for having Towns sit on the bench in the second half. Towns was anegative 20 while on the floor. He is too slow on defense is why he was sitting. How does Stephen A Smith not know that??
He’s just trolling for clicks
He is a entertainer and self promoter.
Pacers shot 50% from 3 when KAT was there
Pacers shot 33% from 3 when KAT was off the floor
Time for the annual Thibs exhausted his team by not trusting his players and wearing down his starters articles. You know after after failing so many times and hearing the same refrain you’d think he might change. You know what they say about the definition of insanity………Has he ever been tested? LOL
It’s so funny that the 2 most infuriating HCs in the league are Thibs who overplays his starters and doesn’t use his bench enough, causing the stars to wilt in the playoffs, and Kerr, who underplays his players and shoehorns in as many 2way guys into winnable, close games as he can, that only turns wins into losses, simply by playing less talented players and benching his more talented ones for scrubs.
They are both on opposite sides of the spectrum, but equally infuriating to watch. Both don’t deserve their jobs anymore.
The knickerbockers were in SLO motion by the late 4th quarter Uncle. Nothing left to give. Brunson was gasping.
Pacers are just playing better, more motivated and confident. Their D is better and Turner is a legit problem for the Knicks, unlike Boston whos Cs were not great (well except Kornet in game5).
Knicks just got what they gave the Celtics. Knicks are not the aggressive team in this series and its showing.
KAT has and will be a defensive liability. Whether the trade was good for the Knicks or the Wolves is another argument, but KAT did similar things last season and that is why the Wolves dumped him.
KAT couldn’t guard an ice cream cone even if he was the ice cream man.
Defensively he was never great or even average. Some angles he took last night were absolutely horrendous and looked like he was focused on only getting his, and not stopping anyone. One dimensional player for a long time.
But hey thst self moniker of “greatest shooting big man ever” appointed to him works well here, right???? Right?!?
You can just see Indy hunting for KAT on defense. They’ll pass and dribble around until they get KAT guarding the ball, then go to work. His defense has been particularly awful in this series so far. If he wants to take the next step as a player, he has to improve on defense.
He doesn’t.
This Knicks team has had three issues all year long.
I get most of you don’t watch ball. You only need the final score. Truth is Pacers are exploiting those issues. So I have to give credit to their staff. And team for being on the same page. One thing Haliburton is, he’s a high IQ PG. Thibs sitting Towns is basically agreeing with what Pacers think.
Through two games, the numbers are damning. The Pacers are shooting 47.7% (21-for-44) from deep when Towns is on the court. When he’s off, that number plummets to just 30.4% (7-for-23).
Towns D, Bridges leveling up, Knicks bench. Thats where you can hurt Knicks.
Knicks gave away gm1. So the clowns here got wet
Gluteus maximus. This (gm2) is first gm Pacers outright beat them. The bad news is. Knicks new coming in and they still got spanked.
Hart didn’t play a good gm either. No reason why you can’t play Achiuwa with Towns. He helps Towns on D better than Mitch does. This and not fixing bench. Is Thibs stubbornness in play. He finally sat Towns for D. Unfortunately it is more a panic move. than a just a move. Knicks bench isn’t scoring at all. The reason for that starters stat. Is Mitch coming in and changing the whole team D.
They gave away gm1. Then you don’t show up for gm2 after doing that gm1. That is what’s telling to me. Some players are not built to play in NY. Only thing going to save them now. Is winning next game. Knicks play better away from home. I can tell you I’m done with Towns. One way players will never do well in MSG …..
I’m shocked at the Knicks performance
Yeah, you’re the only one that watches ball. That’s why you act like you won a championship when you got out of the second round. The rest of us just don’t understand.
Man you sure were excited you big ball watcher you!
Robinson needs to be in the starting lineup. He needs to play alongside KAT. That’s the only way to hide KAT’s defensively deficiencies. It’s the lineup Knicks fans have wanted all season, with Hart coming off the bench.
Towns doesn’t show up when he doesn’t score. Then hides when they attack him on D. He has to put up 30 to stay on floor. And they should ditch Hart and play Achiuwa. Losing gm 2 or really giving away gm 1. Is what got them here. We still got gms to play. They play better away from home. Especially Towns.
GhostofThomasHamilton
May 24, 2025
Yeah, you’re the only one that watches ball. That’s why you act like you won a championship when you got out of the second round. The rest of us just don’t understand.
If you watch then you can explain it. And not just the stats you read. Or the media rants. Or the final score. We are not the same you prove that every time try and write. Next time you get a thought flush it …,,
Its not that you don’t understand the game. Its you have bad luck when thinking it…….
If I’m Thibs I bring OG or Mikal off the bench for some scoring and then bring in Precious to help KAT lack of defense. Pacers don’t have the shooting or shot creators like Boston did so you don’t need to play Mikal and OG together all the time.
Knicks getting their own medicine. Celtics didn’t respect them. Knicks were able to jump on them. Knicks not respecting Pacers they jump on them. Thibs should of won gm 1. They got spanked gm 2. Thibs is panicking now. There is no way we are losing next gm. Unfortunately it could be too late.
Some of the analysis here is hysterically offbase. Blaming Thibs is lazy and lame. They’ll never win coach gets zero credit when the team wins or overachieves (beats 64 win defending champs), but it’s his fault for not beating a hot Pacers… omg. 🤦♂️
They ran into a guy (Nesmith) on an epic heater who hit 6 treys in a row in the last 3 minutes. And Hali’s last second heroics, a missed goaltend and 2 missed FTs in the last 30 seconds. But Thibs sucks… my goodness.