Knicks Struggle Against Pacers, Down 2-0 in Series

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00:00Pacers-Knicks through two, the Pacers up 2-0.

00:04Competitive 100%. I'm not crazy. We've had overtime, we had a five-point game in game number two.

00:11That's kind of why this Knicks stuff feels really bad.

00:15So when we entered Knicks-Celtics, the idea for the Knicks,

00:19come over here in the deep sea, and we're going to take you home.

00:24So now we're getting into the deep sea with the Pacers, and they can't win any of the close games?

00:28Because you're telling me that the Clutch Player of the Year, which he deserved,

00:32and he has been through in the postseason, is all of a sudden not the Clutchest player in the series?

00:36I mean, Halliburton stuff is incredible.

00:39The Knicks' only path through two games apparently is blow out the Pacers.

00:47Problem, the Pacers seem impossible to blow out, and they almost did in game one

00:51and then somehow still lost that game.

00:53We are watching right now a situation, J.Y., where the Knicks have, I don't care,

01:02the Knicks have a great collection of talent.

01:06They really do.

01:08But it was put together obviously quickly in the offseason,

01:12and, you know, you have to, it's only their first year together.

01:17But there are elements of this basketball team that feel like they may not work together,

01:23and the biggest that I am now feeling like does not work together is Brunson plus Cat.

01:31I know it's really difficult to come on here and be, you know, anti-Brunson.

01:35Everybody loves him because he's an underdog,

01:38and he's got the most 30-point games in Knicks history.

01:41But Brunson has the ball so much that he is making a lot of these other guys around him useless

01:52unless they can contribute defensively at a high level.

01:57Well, that's not Karl-Anthony Towns.

01:59They're already attacking Brunson on the defensive side, every single possession.

02:03Here's an action, you're involved in it.

02:05Well, the other option is to attack Cat.

02:07The difference is Cat doesn't get to bounce around off Aaron Neesmith at the top of the key for 20 seconds

02:13of the 24-second shot clock.

02:16So, again, they beat Boston.

02:21It was incredible.

02:22They're in the conference finals.

02:24They're not protecting Madison Square Garden.

02:27They are down 2-0 in a series where Brunson has, what, 80 points through two games.

02:32I just – it feels, J.Y., to me, that we could point to the closeness and say

02:38the Knicks just need to switch a couple of things, and they're right back in it.

02:42This series feels as over right now as Thunder Timberwolves does to me.

02:46Yeah, I mean, listen, if the Knicks continue to play like this

02:50and have their defensive breakdowns, absolutely.

02:53When you have the case of – you know, you're going to look at a lot of people, I guess.

02:58Brunson is someone that dominates the ball,

02:59and what we've seen particularly in the last two games is what I call

03:04the Julius Randle-Atlanta Hawks series in a full effect,

03:08which is give the ball to one person, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble.

03:12You've got to figure it out, and the team's able to load up.

03:15So even if Jalen Brunson gets by the first defender,

03:17there's a secondary defender waiting for him,

03:19whereas if you look at an Indiana Pacers team,

03:22they're getting into their second and sometimes their third action,

03:25and that's how they're getting New York and mismatches mistakes.

03:29There's also about the part of roster construction.

03:32Kevin is right.

03:33They kind of got this trade with Cat literally right, you know,

03:35at the beginning of the season, right around training camp.

03:38So to me, there are elements that are missing from this New York team

03:42that either Timbs won't use or they're not good enough.

03:47Number one is a secondary ball handler,

03:50a.k.a. a backup point guard or someone that you can play in a two-guard system.

03:54It is not a campaign.

03:57It's obvious.

03:58And I'm a Knicks fan.

04:00The question is, is Deuce McBride.

04:03A Deuce McBride that was terrible in the first-round series versus Detroit,

04:07had a huge series versus the Celtics,

04:09was a great 11 or so minutes, I do believe, in game number one.

04:17I'm sorry, first half was good.

04:19And then the second half really didn't get a lot of time,

04:21and the Knicks kind of went to their starters really deep into the third quarter

04:25where you saw Rick Carlisle, you know, subbing.

04:29I think Obi Toppin was in four minutes into the third quarter.

04:33He started subbing right away, which gave his guys fresh legs.

04:37Yeah.

04:37So that gets to the Timbs effect.

04:39And now it gets deeper than that.

04:41The whole, this whole Nova Nick thing, which was a great storyline,

04:45but at times Josh Hart kind of disappears.

04:49And he's not strong defensively.

04:52So that's where you have to look at in New York.

04:54Do you look to go to, you talk about Cat versus Mitchell Robson?

04:58Do you look to go to Deuce McBride a little bit,

05:00give him a little bit more minutes,

05:01because that's at least someone defensively where you can't say,

05:04I'm going to switch and I'm going to take him.

05:06Like, they can't do that with Deuce.

05:08You openly saw, especially in the fourth quarter,

05:11ball screen, whoever had Halliburton,

05:14they got a switch screen with Brunson.

05:17And if you remember that dagger three that he hit to the 45 on the right side

05:22was on Brunson, because Brunson knew he couldn't step up to him,

05:26so he backed up and banged the three.

05:28The other thing is you are 100 games into your season.

05:32They make, the Knicks make, colossal defensive mistakes.

05:39Colossal.

05:39No bigger one than the whole concept,

05:42and hopefully people that are listening on radio can understand this.

05:46When you drive the ball towards you, you're taught to fan out.

05:53The second biggest three of the game was a Miles Turner corner three

05:57with about three minutes up to go.

05:58They drove left, Mitchell Robinson, who's a great shot blocker, came in.

06:04The ball was coming to him.

06:06He's supposed to jab, go out, backside help is supposed to be there,

06:10and then that's where you get it.

06:12The problem is Mitchell Robinson stepped up,

06:15they threw it to Miles Turner, Turner hit the three,

06:18and that to me was maybe the biggest shot, Tom, of that whole game.

06:21I've had to continue to join.

06:27I don't think it's either way.

06:28I don't think it's either way.

06:29I don't think it's either way...

06:30The judgment for the game.

06:32You're not necessary.

06:33I'm not56.

06:34I shouldn't believe.

06:35I have to win.

06:36I don't think it can counterweight,

06:39then that will see a game like they're skills of them.

06:41I don't think it's literally to choose any changes.

06:43OK.

06:44Why?

06:44What can't it?

06:46What does that mean?

06:47You go back and say,

06:48I think it's out of the game.

06:49It's up here.

06:50What do I do?

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