Knicks vs. Pacers: Three takeaways from Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner defends against Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns during the second half of Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals in Indianapolis on Saturday. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy
INDIANAPOLIS — The Knicks saw their season come to a crashing halt Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and that made it hard to look at the accomplishments that had come this season, the steps forward the team had taken. Karl-Anthony Towns was limping badly as he made his way to the bus after talking to the media. Josh Hart played with a badly dislocated right middle finger for much of Game 6. And there certainly was mental anguish among the team after the disappointing finish.
1. The defense has to get better
The Knicks put together a pairing of OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges at a high cost to provide a grouping that could limit opposing wings and help support Jalen Brunson and Towns, elite offensive talents who are lacking as defenders. But the Pacers piled up 138 points in the first game, 130 in Game 4 and 125 points in Game 6, and it often came too easy — some of it because of the Pacers' offensive talent and some because the Knicks made it easy with turnovers.
“I saw a lot of breakaways on their part,” Brunson said. “It’s probably a big reason why they were able to extend the lead throughout the series. You can start with Game 1. The play where I passed to OG and the turnover right there. It’s something that I have to be able to control. I always talk about controlling the things I can control, and that’s one of them, and I wasn’t able to do that throughout the series, and I wasn’t able to give my teammates and team an opportunity to go out there and win more games. It’s — it’s really terrible on our part. Terrible on my part. Excuse me.”
2. The first step is a big one
When they made the deals for Bridges and Towns, the Knicks spoke about the window that the similar ages and contract status of the roster will give the team going forward. They won 51 games in the regular season, beat the defending champion Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals and reached the conference finals for the first time in 25 years. And even in the pain of the defeat, they expressed belief that this group will grow and get better.
“There’s disappointment because you fall short of what your goal is,” Tom Thibodeau said. “And in the end there’s only going to be one team that achieves the goal. So I think the challenge for us is to look at it for what it is. We finished in the top three. But we’re falling short of the ultimate goal. For us, it’s to use that as motivation and determination to work all summer to prepare ourselves to make the final step to keep improving so we can achieve our goal. I think that’s the way we have to approach it and that’s the way we have to look at it. It’s improvement from last year, but it’s ultimately not what our ultimate goal is.”
3. That belief — and the contract extension already in place — extends to the coach
Thibodeau has taken a crazy amount of criticism considering the stature he has achieved with the team in his five seasons as coach. But even after he brought the Knicks to the conference finals, there were critics in the national media wondering aloud if he is the wrong coach for the next step.
Asked about that after the game, Brunson said, “Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he’s the right guy. Yes. Come on.”
Thibodeau signed a three-year contract extension last summer that kicks in next season.
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.
