Knicks Secure a Commanding 111-94 Victory at the MSG

SportsGrid

Watch Knicks Secure a Commanding 111-94 Victory at the MSG - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00The New York Knicks do so comfortably inside the Mecca last night, 111-94, 17-point win.

00:07The Knicks cover as a four-and-a-half-point favorite, and a total of 222 stays well under.

00:13So you talked about what New York did well last night.

00:16What did the Knicks flip in game number five?

00:19Well, let's look at one thing offensively or one thing defensively.

00:23Obviously, you're going to talk about the play of Jalen Brunson to start the game,

00:26but I thought it was smart of Tom Thibodeau to not always have him bring the ball to the court, Ben.

00:31Get him on the move where Indiana could not load up his defense.

00:35Handoffs, stuff like that, and I think people need to recognize Aaron Naismith is compromised.

00:41You saw Jalen Brunson particularly try to go to his right early,

00:44kind of now Naismith to push off that right foot, which makes it difficult.

00:48So Jalen Brunson going to his right, getting him on the move was key.

00:52The second thing is I thought I wanted OG to go on Halliburton, but Thib did something smart.

00:59He kept bridges on him, but they picked him up in the backcourt.

01:03They made him turn one or two times, you know, defensively.

01:07Now, if you get a guy to turn one or two times, Ben, that could be a difference of two to three seconds on the shot clock.

01:13Now you're starting your offense a little bit later than a custom,

01:16and then you get to a point where if you keep pushing him out, pushing him out, Halliburton isn't the one that's quick enough

01:23to go to the basket and just blow by people and you pick them up in the backcourt.

01:28That was key.

01:29Third thing is the Knicks did not allow them to get into transition.

01:33The Knicks were opportunistic when they ran, but they more went into what I call like a secondary break,

01:39which is more of like a sideline break, a little bit less speed, which still gets to the shot clock early, but doesn't rush them.

01:47Those three things were huge changes made by Tibbs, and it paid off for the Knicks last night.

01:52Loved the Knicks yesterday, Coach. Loved them to cover the spread.

01:55I thought they were in a great spot, and as you said, came out on fire, but sort of let that lead leak away

01:59at the end of the first quarter, but they didn't miss a beat, won the second quarter by seven points.

02:03If we look at that starting lineup for the Pacers, because we've always said how deep the Pacers are

02:07and how good that starting five plays together.

02:10Fifteen points out of Siakam was the best of the bunch here.

02:13Three, five, six, eight points, respectively, throughout the rest of the starters.

02:16Is this something that can continue with the Knicks' defensive pressure,

02:20or is it one of those where we had a video here coming up of Tyrese Halliburton that said,

02:24you know what, they were just better in this game.

02:26They were more intense. Their defensive intensity was really ratcheted up.

02:29Can the Knicks turn that over to a game six and a game seven, or was this just an anomaly, you think?

02:34Well, listen, at the end of the day, can they just literally not turn the ball over?

02:40That's the key with the Knicks, because Indiana, they live in transition, right?

02:45They got to get up and down, and I think that's the key, is that they can get up and down to able to do so.

02:50They forced 20 turnovers to the Knicks, only 15, and they're also, Donnie,

02:55there's different kinds of turnovers, live versus dead ball.

02:58A live ball turnover, you get it fast, but you go, right?

03:00And that's what Indiana wants. They like, we want live turnovers, block shots, obviously,

03:05and then obviously runouts. Same thing with steals.

03:09When you score and you milk the clock a little bit, you force them to play half-court ball.

03:14The other thing is this, we talk, there's a term that we talk about, we call it jam the outlet.

03:18Meaning, even on mix, Indiana likes to get that ball out and get up the floor.

03:22If you pick up Halliburton at half-court or three-quarter court,

03:25now we can't get it on the move and get up the floor.

03:28It's a lot of deal with flow, and the Knicks disrupted their flow last night.

03:32We'll see if it can happen, but Indiana, that was not a great performance,

03:36but you have to give the Knicks credit defensively.

Category

Transcript

Recommended