NEW YORK — In the first quarter, Jalen Brunson dropped 19 points on 8 field goal conversions. The rest of the game, he would make one more shot.
The bench contributed just 20 points the entire contest, well below their regular season average of 31.6 per game.
Yet, despite the imperfect offense, the New York Knicks toppled the Atlanta Hawks Saturday, April 18 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, 113-102, in a sign that this team is built to win in different ways; it can explode on offense, or it can grind teams down.
With OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, New York always had arguably the top duo of wing perimeter defenders in the NBA, but Saturday night showed the Knicks may have unlocked another element that can elevate this defense into a championship-caliber outfit. Forward Josh Hart, a high-energy utility player who can slide into numerous roles asked of him, has blossomed into an irritating defender who is now often tasked with guarding the opponent’s best player. In Game 1, that made him the primary defender on the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson.
This started the last few weeks of the regular season, and it has freed Anunoby and Bridges to hound other players. It has also elevated the entire defense.
“Josh is very good at getting to the ball and trying to make the ball-handler uncomfortable,” coach Mike Brown said. “Having Josh, having Mikal, having OG, they allow us to be versatile defensively.”
That versatility gives New York something it can use in this series and beyond, particularly against teams whose players share ball-handling duties: it allows the Knicks to switch pick-and-rolls.
And since the primary function of a pick-and-roll is to create offensive mismatches, the ability to switch players — especially when they’re exceptional defenders — negates that.
This is a problem for Atlanta.
The Hawks, the hottest team in the Eastern Conference after the All-Star break, rely on a fluid, offensive system in which four players split ball-handling duties. Atlanta doesn’t rely on play calls as much as it does on general concepts and actions and asks its players to read the defense. The Hawks want their players to attack into open space.
Against the Knicks Saturday night, those four players — Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum and Dyson Daniels — were pestered and harassed.
The Hawks shot a respectable 43.7% from the floor, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
To that point, nine of the 12 Hawks turnovers were committed by the four ball-handlers.
The other thing this swarming, versatile defense offers the Knicks is instant offense; New York emphasized throwing the ball ahead, pushing it into the open floor and getting high-percentage points in transition.
New York generated a +9 advantage in fastbreak points Saturday night.
“I think we just have a great group of guys that are locked in,” Knicks guard Miles McBride told reporters after the game. “I don’t think it’s anybody individually, it’s just our whole team being locked in on trying to make everything tough on them.
“Every single night. It’s non-negotiable. We have to bring it every single night.”
So, how exactly do the Hawks combat this? Game 2 will tip Monday, April 20 here in Madison Square Garden, and the primary objective will be to source easier offense.
For one, they’ll need to find a way to break through that defensive pressure, perhaps abandoning pick-and-rolls in favor of an offense that’s more fluid. Because when the Knicks went on runs in the second half, it was when the ball stagnated for Atlanta.
“Walking away from the game, turnovers, I had 5 turnovers, there’s things that we can do better from a spacing standpoint,” McCollum said. “Moving the ball a little more, being intentional with ball and player movement — I think all those things can factor in to more success for us. …
“I think it’s all about responding. And I look forward to responding on Monday.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York Knicks are real NBA championship contenders. Here’s why.
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