Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns was excellent in Game 3, but it was the team's defense that really stood out
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard is defended by Knicks forward OG Anunoby and center Karl-Anthony Towns during the second half of Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals on Sunday, in Indianapolis. Credit: AP/AJ Mast
INDIANAPOLIS — As Karl-Anthony Towns was pouring in 20 points in a span of just over seven minutes in the fourth quarter Sunday, it had NBA statisticians scrolling through the history books to put the offensive explosion in context.
But, it wasn’t just the offensive uptick from the skilled Knicks center that made the difference in helping them turn around what had been a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter (and 20 points earlier in the game). It was something that seems overlooked at times in the NBA today - the Knicks' defense - that opened the door to staying alive in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers.
Sunday night’s comeback closed the deficit for the Knicks to two games to one and, whether it was Tuesday’s Game 4 or any of the remaining games in the series, getting the defense on track is a huge key to potentially reaching the NBA Finals.
Offensive highlights are nice. Unlikely bench contributors provide storylines. But for a Tom Thibodeau-coached team, in the end it will always come down to defense. And, if you give Thibodeau a series - game after game against the same opponent - he will figure it out and the team will acclimate to a speed that is hard to adjust to when it’s just on film.
“I think it’s getting better and better each game,” OG Anunoby said. “The Pacers, they play very fast, so sometimes it gets hard when a lot of things are going on, but the communication has picked up. I think it’s getting better and better.”
The Knicks limited the Pacers to 42 second-half points Sunday and Indiana shot just 5-for-19 overall and 1-for-8 from three-point range in the fourth quarter. While some of that had observers pointing a finger at Jalen Brunson's foul trouble keeping him off the court for much of the fourth — Josh Hart playing the entire quarter with Towns, Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Deuce McBride getting most of the minutes — it's much more than that.
Indiana has targeted Brunson (and Towns) and it has been effective - not just in numbers, but pushing the Knicks to stagger the two when they can and creating foul trouble for the two offensive stars.
For all of the offensive focus, Bridges, Anunoby, McBride and Hart combined for zero field goals in the fourth quarter. It was on the other end of the floor where they made their most important contribution.
“Getting stops and then getting out, getting easy buckets,” Hart said. “Obviously, KAT had it going. Just the fight, I think that was the biggest thing. We let it slip in the first half, we got down 20, but we continued to fight, continued to trust in each other, continued to communicate at a high level, and it just benefited us.
“Great defensive half for us. We have to come out with the intensity, physicality, the ball pressure to start the game. We rebounded the ball and we got out in transition and got easy baskets. Defensively, we communicated at a high level, we recognized mismatches, we put out fires, we rotated.”
“Just the communication and forcing tough looks,” Anunoby added. “They weren’t getting any shots early in the clock. We were making them work each possession and take shots [at the] end of the clock and just making them uncomfortable.”
The Pacers put some of the blame for their offensive dysfunction on their own shoulders, believing that they slowed the game down, which goes against their trademark style.
“There’s plenty of times when we’re walking the ball up the floor as if we’re the Knicks,” Indiana’s Myles Turner told reporters Monday. “We didn’t play fast enough. We built our brand and made our way getting up and down and being a fast-paced team, and we didn’t execute that way.”
“Our superpower is our speed and our depth, and our ability to not get tired,” T.J. McConnell said. “I don’t think we did that well. When you have a lead like that, I would say some ‘comfortability’ sets in. We can’t allow that.”
In the Knicks nine postseason wins entering Tuesday’s Game 4 they allowed just 102.5 points per game, compared to 116.7 in the six losses. So, while the fast pace of the Indiana offense and the quick whistles may lead to a higher-scoring game, the Knicks seem to know what they need to do to win.
"Just great team defense, helping each other out, just trying to win a game,” Bridges said. “Just communicating better and knowing our [scouting report], knowing what we’re doing was a good job.”
Notes & Quotes: Indiana's Aaron Nesmith, who suffered a sprained right ankle in Game 3, was listed as questionable, but was back in the starting lineup.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
