If at any point during the Knicks vs. Celtics series you thought to yourself, "it feels like these teams are playing really slow", you would have been onto something! In the regular season, both teams ranked among the slowest teams in the league when it came to pace. In the playoffs, the Knicks rank around the middle of the pack in pace, but that has more to do with other teams slowing down than them speeding up.
The Knicks' slower play is by design, mostly. Jalen Brunson is methodical. Part of what makes him great is that he doesn't let the opponent speed him up. He gets to his spot and uses his exceptional footwork to get any shot off that he wants. That said, the Knicks need to speed things up more at times, specifically when Brunson sits.
Precious wasted seconds
The frustrating part of the Knicks' offense is that sometimes it seems like they are playing slow just for the sake of playing slow. According to the league's tracking data, the Knicks take 4.5 seconds on average to get the ball across half court, the fifth-slowest time among playoff teams.
It isn't just getting the ball up the floor that is frustrating, it is more the fact that they let precious seconds tick off the clock every possession before doing anything meaningful with their offensive possession. On average, during the playoffs, it has taken the Knicks 6.9 seconds to get into their first action. The only teams that have taken longer have been the Los Angeles Clippers and the Celtics.
There is a difference between Brunson lulling a defender to sleep, or directing traffic before the offense gets into a set, and simply waiting for those seconds to drain before doing anything. Over the course of the game, those seconds can add up, and for a Knicks team whose identity has relied heavily on making late-game comebacks, those seconds could become vital.
Speeding up through transition
The Knicks' organized offense will never be fast-paced, but their unorganized offense can be. They only attempted nine field goals out of transition in Game 4. Because of their offense erupting in the second half, that wasn't much of an issue. That said, it was tied for the second-fewest in any of their playoff games.
Transition attempts are almost always high-efficiency because of the simple fact that the opposing defense doesn't have the opportunity to get set. Those nine transition shots in Game 4 produced 1.3 points per shot. When the Knicks' offense stalls, as it has tended to do, they need to be more willing to push the pace.