3. Ball Movement
The Atlanta Hawks are fighting to overcome massive changes to the rotation, but the approach remains the same. Atlanta makes defenders chase the ball by keeping it in constant motion and patiently searching for the open man.
If the New York Knicks are going to defeat the Hawks, then they must embrace the same approach to offensive execution.
Thus far in 2016-17, the Knicks are 15-5 when they dish out at least 20 assists and 1-9 when they fail to. One of those 15 wins happens to be over the Hawks, when the Knicks dished out 21 assists on 42 field goals made.
If those healthy sample sizes prove anything, it’s that the Knicks are a borderline elite team when they move the ball and are dreadful when they don’t.
One of the areas in which ball movement could help the Knicks this time around is in catching Atlanta out of position and drawing fouls. New York attempted just 14 free throws the last time these two teams met, which is generally insufficient.
New York may have won the first battle, but against a Hawks team that averages 24.0 assists per game, the Knicks must combat its infatuation with ISO-ball.