The New York Knicks, who haven’t reached the NBA Finals since 1999, fell brief as soon as once more, dropping back-to-back video games to the Indiana Pacers when a championship alternative appeared inside grasp.
How did a staff many anticipated to advance abruptly discover themselves watching from residence?
The reply may lie in elementary mismatches that plagued them all through the collection.
Sports activities radio character Mike Francesa not too long ago broke down what went fallacious for New York throughout his podcast look.
“The underside line – Knicks had hassle matching up defensively, that they had hassle dealing with the tempo that Indiana performed at and Indiana damage them in a wide range of methods all through the collection. This collection was a winnable collection,” Francesa famous.
“That they had hassle dealing with the tempo that Indiana performed at, and Indiana damage them in a wide range of methods all through the collection.”@MikeFrancesa talks about how the Knicks’ protection was expensive of their collection in opposition to the Pacers 🏀 pic.twitter.com/qWB2IPVDx9
— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) June 1, 2025
The collection was completely there for the taking if the Knicks had made higher changes. Each groups displayed clear strengths, however Indiana possessed that one participant New York merely couldn’t comprise on the defensive finish.
The Knicks struggled defensively all through and by no means obtained the breakthrough performances they wanted from their high gamers.
Coach Tom Thibodeau made a vital resolution from recreation one, selecting to match Indiana’s tempo quite than dictating a slower tempo.
This technique backfired badly. New York ranked twenty seventh in tempo through the common season with 97.64 possessions per 48 minutes, whereas the Pacers sat seventh at 100.76.
Whereas the Knicks discovered success pushing tempo in opposition to Detroit and Boston, slowing down in opposition to Indiana would have been the smarter method.
New York persistently failed to trace Pacers gamers leaking out in transition, whether or not after turnovers, missed photographs, or inbound performs.
Thibodeau missed alternatives to regulate his technique and demand gamers drop again to restrict fastbreak alternatives.
The numbers inform the story. Indiana outscored New York in fastbreak factors each single recreation, totaling 106 fastbreak factors throughout six video games in comparison with simply 48 for the Knicks.
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