Thursday night the Knicks followed the blueprint.
The question now is, can they repeat it two more times?
Throughout the Eastern Conference Finals, we’ve been waiting for New York to ramp up its defensive intensity across the board, to be the more physical team and drag the game down into the mud, where it could win. Instead, for three of the four games, Indiana was the more physical team. Surprisingly, Tyrese Haliburton has been more physical than Jalen Brunson. The Pacers were given enough room to run their free-flowing offense, which is elite when Haliburton is scoring, then driving into the paint and then finding cutters or kicking out to shooters.
Thursday night, the Knicks brought a swarming defensive energy they had only shown in flashes this series — they were up in the bodies of the Pacers, bothering them. Mitchell Robinson helped lead that, but even the bench guys like Landry Shamet — not a guy exactly known for his defense — were swarming guys and making plays.
“I’m just very proud of what we did,” Brunson said after the game. “Now, we’ve just got to replicate it in the first quarter of next game and then continue to build on that.”
Knicks comeback blueprint
Brunson is right. For the Knicks to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since The Matrix was in theaters, they need to build off of what we saw in Game 5 and be better than they were in that blowout win — getting a Game 5 win in Madison Square Garden was the easiest part of this comeback. To pull off the coming harder parts, New York needs to execute under pressure and take care of the ball, limiting turnovers (they still had 15 Thursday night), and they need guys like OG Anunoby (3-of-14 in Game 5) and Duece McBride (3-of-10 on open 3-pointers in this series) to step up and hit shots.
New York also needs to carry over a lot of things from Game 5. This attacking version of Karl-Anthony Towns has to show up.
On the other end of the court, Brunson and the Knicks were more aggressive in taking the ball out of Haliburton’s hands, and in the face of that, Haliburton was passive. He was not seeking out his shots — he took just seven for the game — instead, he was driving to pass, which threw the entire team off balance.
“Put it on me. I’ll be better in Game 6,” Haliburton said.
With Haliburton struggling, nobody else stepped up. Myles Turner turned the ball over twice early and was off all night. Indiana’s execution was lacking in the way the Knicks’ execution was lacking in other games this series. Thursday night it was Indiana being sloppy with the ball. (Note to the Pacers: If you thought the Knicks’ physical, swarming defense was an issue, I’d like to introduce you to the Oklahoma City Thunder. You ain’t seen nothing yet.)
For the Knicks to win this series, that defensive pressure has to keep Indiana on its heels and off-balance. The Pacers will play better at home, New York can’t let up.
Tom Thibodeau must continue to trust his bench — including Shamet, Hart, Delon Wright, and Precious Achiuwa, whose minutes all matter in keeping their stars fresh.
Additionally, Brunson has to continue to be the best player on the court. He was the aggressor on this night and led the Knicks in getting downhill and scoring 60 points in the paint on 58.8% shooting. New York had eight and-1s in the game. Brunson was himself again.
Don’t expect passivity from the Pacers at home in Game 6 on Saturday night — with the home crowd behind them, they should be able to match the desperation of the Knicks. It’s tempting to say that Game 6 is Indiana’s Game 7, that they have to close it out because they can’t win a Game 7 in Madison Square Garden — except they did that just a year ago, when they blew out the Knicks by 21 in a Game 7 in Manhattan.
Still, the Pacers don’t want a return trip to New York, Game 7s can be random. Indiana wants to close it out.
New York now has the blueprint to stop that and come all the way back and win the series. Whether they can execute it will be the question.
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