New York – A match after the Knicks historically launched an advance in the playoff series with three minutes to do and lost, they had the chance to do magic on Friday.
Decfing 10 points to the Indiana Pacers with a little less than three minutes to play, Jalen Brunson and his team have dismissed, reducing the deficit to one in the last 20 seconds.
But finally, there was not enough magic for the Knicks. Brunson missed what would have been long, equaling 3 with eight seconds to go, and the Knicks slipped 114-109 to the Madison Square Garden to fall into a 2-0 hole in the final of the Eastern Conference.
The series heads for Indiana for match 3 Sunday evening.
Even with the return, Brunson and the Knicks passed most of their post-match interviews to talk about how their lack of concentration on defense did them.
“Obviously, they do a very good job to move the ball and force you to errors, and we must be more defensively to keep the first action, the second action, but also the third action,” said Josh Hart, the Knicks wing. “We are down 0-2, and now we are going in a difficult place to play, Indiana, so we have to repair it. We cannot have blown blankets, no matter how late it is in the stopwatch.”
Hart said the defensive breakdowns at the end of the match were particularly expensive because they occurred while the Knicks were trying to return their return.
“In the playoffs, many games are determined by one or two possession,” he said. “Two consecutive games, we [made those mistakes]. We must understand it. “”
The Knicks had no answer for Pascal Siakam from Indiana, who exploded for 39 points out of 23 attempts to shoot, and they also had trouble defending the pointer at 3, the Pacers making 13 of the 30 attempts (43.3%).
For the second consecutive match, the Pacers were particularly effective when Karl-Anthony Towns defended. They pulled 50% of the outside (9 for 18) when Towns was on the ground, against 33.3% (4 for 12) when he was outside.
For the series, Indiana draws almost 48% (21 out of 44) from Deep with Towns and only 30% (7 for 23) with it on the bench. Towns took an extended seat on the bench while New York was preparing without him on Friday evening.
Apparently each time the knicks increased pressure by sending a second defender to Tyrese Haliburton or TJ McConnell, the Pacers made them pay by finding someone open in the back. And these looks were often 3 points, especially to start the fourth period. The score was tied after three quarters, but three minutes from the fourth, the Pacers were up nine years.
“Rotations were not there [defensively]And we have to do more to help each other, “said Brunson, who had a 36 -point top.
The five Knicks also had trouble for the second consecutive match, being upgraded by 13 points after being ahead of 16 in match 1. Overall in the playoffs, the Knicks beginners were preceded by 50 points, remarkable for a club at only four victories of a NBA finals.
Asked about the possibility of changing the five departure, coach Tom Thibodeau said he would seek all the possibilities of finding a victory for match 3 in Indiana.
Mitchell Robinson’s safeguard center, a much more agile defender than the cities of the perimeter, gave the Knicks of great minutes earlier. After an average of 20 minutes in the playoffs, Robinson played 16 minutes in the first half only in match 2.
But Robinson seemed to have lacked steam after his huge block of Haliburton shot with a little less than eight minutes. On the game, Robinson landed awkwardly and seemed to change his ankle. He finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in 29 minutes.
Whatever the programming that Thibodeau uses in game 3, the Knicks know that they must do their best to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole.
Asked about the defense of the Pacers and if it requires more mental sharpness on the part of the Knicks, Brunson said, but that is not important now.
“I guess, yes. But we are in the conference final,” he said. “Nothing else matters right now. We have a game every two days. We are playing in a moment at high issues. The mental objective – everything – must be there. There is no doubt at this stage.”
