After allowing a three-point bonanza in Boston, the Knicks clamped the Pacers in the Garden on Friday.
When the Knicks lost on Tuesday to the Boston Celtics, it wasn’t because of bad offense. Although things looked stagnant at times, they had a team offensive rating of 119.8, which is pretty solid.
They got the snot beat out of them because they had a defensive rating of 145.
The starting lineup was dynamic offensively, posting a 130.0 offensive rating in 14 minutes.
They had a staggering 170.0 defensive rating.
The Knicks got bombed all night. 39 minutes into the game, the Celtics got 29-for-48 from deep. An impossible percentage. Chasing the all-time record, the Celtics bricked thirteen in a row down the stretch. Although the overall defense was bad there, it seemed to mean good juju for the next game.
The Pacers were the only other team I thought was capable of putting on the type of offensive onslaught that the Celtics did to the Knicks. I thought that Friday was going to tell us a lot about this team, at least in the early going.
They responded.
After being blitzed for a 145.1 defensive rating in Boston, they had a 100.0 against the Pacers. They held the Pacers to a pace of 97.5 possessions. Last year, the Pacers had the second-best offense and the second-fastest pace. The Knicks did something that was inconceivable: they slowed down (and stopped) the Pacers’ offense.
Indiana scored 98 points on Friday. The last time the Pacers were held to 98 or fewer in the regular season? March 24, 2023 (Indiana was held to 90-95 points four times last postseason, but the slow pace of the playoffs partially helped).
How did they do this? An insane reversal in fortune from downtown. After Boston shot 60% from deep before sending in the clean-up crew, the Pacers shot 10% (not a typo) from deep against the Knicks.
Indiana did miss some shots that they probably make most other nights (and Boston certainly makes on Tuesday). That said, there was clearly a point of emphasis.
It also helps that, although Indiana has as much firepower as Boston, they can beat themselves. While the reigning champs are disciplined and don’t feel like the shot clock is only eight seconds, the Pacers are the opposite. Steady defense by Hart here forces Nesmith into a travel as he tried to catch the defense sleeping.
It’s enough to make a grown man cry. Force the ball out of Hali’s hands, Nembhard drives on a larger defender and Anunoby makes a good reach. From there, it’s just diving on the floor and out-gritting them.
“Mathurin, likes the matchup with Payne.”
It’s as if Cam Payne heard the announcer insult him. This is a pure iso possession for Mathurin. Look how stagnant the other four Pacers are. Payne has to guard a larger defender one-on-one and forces a turnover. It’s beautiful stuff.
This is team defense. Brunson stays straight up to avoid a blocking foul call as Nesmith barrels into his chest. Staying in front of him also delays the shot attempt, allowing Towns to get over for the block. Brunson may not be a physically gifted defender, but he’s one of the smartest players in the NBA.
Cam Payne with another big defensive highlight. First, he picks up the Turner screen and immediately fights over it. KAT, in drop, takes Haliburton while Payne sneaks in to strip him. That 6’7” wingspan is an asset defensively. Haliburton was dreadful all game, missing open shots and committing bad turnovers.
Good offense from Indiana generated a clean look for Siakam, but he missed. An offensive rebound had the Knicks out of position, but watch Josh Hart recover. He knows Nembhard is looking to swing it to Haliburton in the corner and doesn’t overcommit, leading to a contest on Haliburton, who missed another three. Letting a cold shooter set his feet because you sold out on Nembhard is how you get him going.
An underrated issue defensively against Boston was the long rebounds leading to second chances with the whole team out of position. Here, Mikal Bridges is ready for Siakam’s feed to Haliburton and gets a good contest. Frankly, I think this was just an awful shooting night for Indiana, missing a lot of open shots. That said, there was less “wide open” shots like Boston had.
A big takeaway from the Celtics game was how silent OG Anunoby was. Defensively, he did his job against Jaylen Brown but it was moot while Bridges got smoked by Tatum and the team as a whole got flattened. Against Indy, he had a defensive rating of 90.0 and had a handful of deflections with this steal. His 14 points were the lowest in the starting five but it is reasonably all he needs to do.
To be frank, Indiana had several really stupid possessions. This is a heat check shot if you got 30. Haliburton was 0-for-6 from the field when he decided to do this. This, along with a few possessions of trying to catch the defense sleeping and general “play fast” hurts them. Hali releases the ball with 13 on the shot clock and it’s a stepback fadeaway. What?
They tried this a few times in Beantown and it failed repeatedly. Off the Jackson screen, they blitz McConnell. Here, because of how they’re played, he has two options. Jackson is relatively open with only JB in the way and Sheppard is on the wing. However, good awareness by Sims has him drop off and let McBride crowd McConnell to take away any quick passes from whoever McConnell tosses it to. Brunson gets a decent contest on Sheppard.
The game completely got away from Indiana and when you’re taking shots like this? Not surprising.
All of the starters had a defensive rating under 103 on Friday, with Jalen Brunson having a remarkable 77.0 when he was on the court. Indiana would’ve been held to under 90 for the first time in almost two years if not for their bench statpadding in a blowout against a lineup that included Jacob Toppin and Tyler Kolek.
Ultimately, despite how the Pacers were ice cold anyway, the Knicks were much more attentive in this game. You didn’t see any of those drop coverage threes. Indiana tried them, but the Knicks were a lot better at fighting over screens. They also stayed away from blitzing and doubling unnecessarily, as well as taking advantage of a Pacers team that was extremely sloppy and always plays at a million miles per hour.
Now, the same way that the season opener wasn’t fully representative of this team, we can’t expect this kind of performance nightly that we saw in the home opener. Indiana missed some open looks and shot themselves out of the game. It happens. The takeaway from this is that the Knicks looked engaged and determined after being caught with their pants down in Boston on Opening Night. We’ll see if this continues tomorrow in Cleveland. LGK.