Why Do The New York Knicks Play So Differently In The Playoffs?

Most organizations have a general philosophy or identity that is as much a part of the teams as the players are. It is sometimes spelled out on the court, or spilled on the front page of a newspaper branding a new era.

The New York Knicks have been led over these last few years by a man with the name of Tom Thibodeau. The famed coach has built up a reputation that is oddly polarizing around the league. He occasionally flails at the bottom of polling for likability and coachability, but will then be defended as the man who helped positively change the trajectories of several players. Those of the past would run through the proverbial brick wall to grab a rebound for the man.

The magic is in the work.

The game tells you what to do.

These are distinct pieces of the identity puzzle of the New York Knicks. Typically, he and the Knicks are classified as a defensively rugged team. Rim protection and tenacity are pillars of the Thibodeau way, but during the regular season that hasn’t necessarily been the case.

Over the past three seasons the Knicks haven’t been driven by their defense, though.

The offense has been the driving force of the organization since Jalen Brunson hopped on board during the summer of 2022. It has led to them winning a ton of games and gaining relevance to the franchise. Yet, the playoffs have looked a bit different for the squad.

The Problem

At first the problem seems to revolve around the offense. In 2022-23, during the Cleveland Cavaliers series, the offensive ineptitude was apparent. It was a true rock fight to the bitter end and the Knicks carried boulders in their pockets. The Knicks crushed the boards and the Cavaliers were unable to find the bottom of the basket. The Miami Heat were able to take advantage of transition opportunities and limited their turnovers in their victory over the Knicks.

The Miami Heat dictated that matchup. Last year, the Knicks were able to punch up offensively but found themselves leaking defensively against the Indiana Pacers. The frenzied pace increased and the Knicks found themselves in a track meet that left them winded by game seven with a roster depleted by injuries.

The series against the Detroit Pistons quickly became a slugfest. Previous iterations of the Knicks may have appreciated the dynamic, but this team is built differently. They are a fine tuned machine that relies more on finesse than a bruising style of play.

New York escaped with the victory, but it was done rather unconvincingly against a team with far less talent. It was indicative of a trend that seemed to continue for the Knicks over the past few years in the playoffs: the opponents have dictated the game environment. That is unlikely to change entirely against the Boston Celtics, but signs could emerge that showcase development in this area and provide hope for the future.

Solution

1. Boston Takes Less 3-Pointers

The Celtics took the most 3-pointers in NBA history this season with a startlingly high 47.8 attempts, which dwarfed the second place finishing Golden State Warriors by over five attempts per game. The gulf was so big between them that the difference was equal to the distance between the Warriors and the 17th place finisher.

The Orlando Magic were able to steal one of the games against the Celtics by limiting them to 27 3-pointers in game three, which helped them secure the victory. They held them to less than 30 attempts in game five, but partially lost because the Celtics shot 54 percent from deep that game.

Limiting the deep balls from the Celtics are a key for New York to win the series, but also shows that they can throw the first punch in imposing their will in the matchup.

2. Karl-Anthony Towns Punishing Matchups

The first thing that Towns will have to do against Boston is to make the Celtics pay for using Jayson Tatum in coverage against him. This is a strategy that was used throughout the regular season against the Knicks and was heavily depended upon by the Detroit Pistons in the previous series. Tobias Harris isn’t considered a stalwart defender, but his matchup helped muck up the Knicks’ offensive attack and into ugly possessions. Fred Katz wrote a great article identifying this issue and how pervasive it was throughout the regular season:

By the end of the season, the Knicks were 35-12 in games where big men were Towns’ primary defender and 11-14 in games when perimeter players were his primary defender. Towns set 27.0 ball screens a game when bigs were primarily on him, according to Second Spectrum. He set just 15.9 when a guard or wing was his main guy.

The team needs to help get Towns better positioning to properly post up these smaller defenders. The failure to capitalize in these situations is the fault of the coaching staff, Brunson and himself. Fighting to establish space closer to the basket should elicit a cleaner offensive environment, as long as he is willing to make quicker decisions out of double teams.

Secondarily, he’s going to have to unleash from deep. Setting more ball screens should, in theory, lead to some open pick and pop opportunities. He found some holes against the Pistons by pulling up on trail 3-point attempts in games three and four against the Pistons. Most of those opportunities came when a center was guarding him so it’ll be up to Thibs to identify ways to make sure he is launching regularly from deep.

Assist Totals

The Knicks had some historically good passing games this season. That changed entirely in the playoffs as they had four different games in which they failed to eclipse 20 assists. During the regular season they averaged over 27 assists per game, and in those contests where they reached that mark they were 38-10. One of those losses? April 8th against the Boston Celtics.

It was easily the best that the Knicks played against the Celtics during the season and it came very close to becoming a victory until Tatum hit an absurd shot at the end of regulation. The recipe in that game was built on ball movement, but also a mix of screeners that helped the ball ping around the court. Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart helped create matchups that allowed Brunson to penetrate the paint and sling passes around the perimeter. Another series in which the Knicks are forced into iso ball will lead to fans questioning the coach, and to an early exit from the playoffs.