BOSTON — One would assume a team with an opportunity to move one step closer to its ultimate goal would be focused. One would assume a team on the cusp of doing something no team before it has done in 25 years would execute at the highest degree. One would assume a team with a 3-1 series lead over the defending champions, who are without their best player, would be eager to put the champs down on the mat as soon as possible.
The New York Knicks had an opportunity to do and show all of those things Wednesday night, and yet they did none of them. New York lost the potential series-ending game to the Boston Celtics 127-102 and now faces a critical Game 6 matchup back in New York on Friday night.
This series has been as unique as they come. The Knicks have the series lead but carry a minus-35 point differential. Surely that hasn’t happened much in NBA history five games into a playoff matchup. New York has trailed by at least 14 points in all five of the games. Again, it has to be rare that a team consistently facing those deficits is ahead at this stage in a series. The Knicks have pulled it off by being resilient, near perfect in spurts and with the help of arrogance from the opponent. However, New York has too many spells of troubling play when it’s unable to follow through with the basics.
The Game 5 loss might be the worst example yet.
“A lot,” Knicks star Jalen Brunson said when asked what disappointed him most about the 25-point defeat. “A lot. It’s just … I’m not even going to say it. Just a lot.”
The best place to focus is the 3-point defense, particularly in transition. New York was borderline abysmal at defending the 3-point line against one of the NBA’s premier shooting teams. The Knicks didn’t communicate. They were slow to react. They didn’t execute the fundamentals. In turn, the Celtics were able to gain confidence early, and that helped them in the rare instances New York did guard the 3-point line correctly.
Boston’s first bucket of the game wasn’t flashy. There were no tricks. The Knicks just didn’t execute.
Even before the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown crossed half court, you can see Mikal Bridges trying to get everyone matched up in transition, and he signaled to Karl-Anthony Towns to cover Kristaps Porziņġis so he can go track Derrick White, his cover, in the corner. After pointing for several seconds, Bridges believed Towns wasn’t going to step out toward the Porziņġis screen. By the time Bridges decided he’d do it himself, Towns then made the sudden move toward Porziņġis. Now both are in no man’s land.
Brown read the mishap immediately and found White wide open in the corner for a practice shot from 3. White finished the game with 34 points on 7-of-13 shooting from 3.
This clip above shows the Knicks being unaware of their surroundings and not communicating.
Brown pushed the pace in transition but didn’t have a real advantage with OG Anunoby in front of him. Towns wasn’t getting back with urgency, and Brunson, while he did sprint back, wasn’t aware of where the rest of the Celtics were on the floor. Towns didn’t begin sprinting until he saw Luke Kornet passing him. White smartly lagged behind the action and was able to step into another wide-open 3.
New York didn’t get matched up despite the Celtics’ not having an advantage in the initial transition push.
“We have to understand that we can’t be slow getting back,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And you can’t give open shots to them. We have to be tougher with our close-outs and taking air space away, and we have to get better with our communication.
“It’s twofold. The commitment to sprint back and then communicate that we understand what’s going on. We can’t have any personal dilemmas. If you miss a shot or it’s not going well for you offensively, and you’re jogging back … you have to sprint, you have to communicate and we have to be matched up. If one guy is slow, you’re going to give them an open shot. You can’t do that against this team.”
Even with a set defense, the Knicks had issues at times.
In the above clip, Miles McBride, who is a trusty and reliable on-ball defender, went under the Porziņġis screen for Pritchard, who was 40.7 percent from 3 on over seven attempts during the regular season. By going under, McBride allowed Pritchard to step into a routine shot. I can’t imagine the scouting report said to go under on a shooter of Pritchard’s status.
Here, this was either poor communication or someone messed up the defensive coverage between Brunson and Towns, and it allowed Jrue Holiday to shoot a wide-open 3 in the pick-and-roll.
It’s clear Brunson believed he was supposed to show after Porziņġis sets the screen to help Towns get switched out onto Holiday. Brunson stabbed at Holiday and then immediately shuffled out to cover Porziņġis on the pop. Towns initially believed they were not switching, as you can see him stepping out toward Porziņġis. By the time Towns realized Brunson was going to cover the Celtics big man, Towns tried to recover and contest the Holiday shot, but it was too late.
Lastly, this Knicks’ defensive blunder came after a made basket. Boston in-bounded the ball and still got an open 3 with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.
Again, this was just poor execution and communication from everyone other than Bridges. He pointed for someone to mark White in transition, but Hart and Brunson went to Al Horford. The veteran did a good job of recognizing the attention and immediately passed to White, who, once again, stepped into a practice shot.
Transition defense has been a real issue for New York throughout the season. Sometimes the Knicks can execute at a high level, but those instances are too few and far between. Seemingly, every few games, New York is asked why the lack of communication and execution in the open floor pops up.
It’s still an answer everyone is searching for, even this deep into the playoffs.
“I wish I could tell you. I wish I could pinpoint it,” Hart said. “If I could, we’d address it. I think that third quarter, there was a lot of frustration, and that seeped into everything that we were doing. We have to make sure that we can control what we can control, and that’s our communication, effort and intensity.”
The Knicks are still in the driver’s seat to the Eastern Conference finals. However, they might not be for long if what happened in Game 5 pops up again Friday night. It would benefit New York to wrap this series up sooner rather than later, with the fast-paced and red-hot Indiana Pacers already sitting at home resting and waiting for the winner of this series. Yet, there’s no point in thinking about Indiana if the Knicks aren’t going to execute the basics against the defending champions.
The Celtics are already a handful as is. New York can’t keep making it easier for them.
(Photo of Jaylen Brown and OG Anunoby: Bob DeChiara / Imagn Images)