Optimism is waning thin for the New York Knicks as they head into Game 6 against the Detroit Pistons.
They are still in the driver’s seat, with another two chances to close out the series. But this team was assembled with the intention of contending for a title now. Going no fewer than six games against the sixth-place Pistons pokes all sorts of holes in that aspiration. The road ahead is even more daunting given how banged up they are, and how they missed a huge opportunity to carve out rest in advance of the second round.
Worrying about what’s to come in future series, as well as this offseason, nevertheless jumps the shark. The Knicks need to get past the Pistons first. Nothing else matters more, at the moment, than getting one more win. And there’s a reasonable adjustment they should make in Game 6—and beyond—to ensure that happens.
The Knicks need to start playing with more urgency
No shortage of people are calling for Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau to make tweaks. Most of these suggestions—insistences, really—spotlight lineup decisions, with some tactical wrinkles peppered in.
Play Josh Hart less! Try out more double-big lineups! Let Deuce McBride work through his shooting slump alongside the non-Hart starters! Give more in-game breaks to all of those starters! Run more pick-and-roll with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns! Do more to exploit the Tobias Harris-on-KAT matchup.
This list unfortunately goes on. Many of the proposed changes even make sense. But they all invariably run into the issue of being stark departures from how the Knicks operate. Incorporating more Brunson-Towns pick-and-rolls is well within the realm of possibility. Everything else, on the other hand, demands out-of-character approaches and minutes distribution from Thibodeau. That doesn’t mean the demands for change should cease. They shouldn’t. But we also have to work inside the confines of New York’s reality. And the reality is Thibs almost assuredly won’t make alterations that force him to move away from #HisGuys. The Knicks instead need to incorporate futz and fiddle within a starting five that won’t be broken up or used less, even as they continue to be a net-negative while on floor, particularly during the recently rebooted Third Quarters of Doom.
On the bright side, New York has cards to play that won’t infringe upon Thibs’ inherent stubbornness. And it starts with exuding more urgency on the offensive end.
The Knicks are playing much too slowly against the Pistons. They are middle of the pack in average offensive possession time, according to Inpredictable, but 26.5 percent of their attempts are coming with seven seconds or less left on the shot clock. The only teams with a larger share of their looks coming in that range are the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, and Orlando Magic, the latter three of which are not sources of offensive inspiration.
This style becomes more demonstrative in the fourth quarter, when New York is taking 30.2 percent of its shot attempts inside seven seconds of the shot clock. That is fine and dandy when your players are finding nylon in these situations. But this wasn’t the case in Game 5.
Almost 41 percent of the Knicks’ fourth-quarter looks in Tuesday’s loss came with sevenseconds or less on the shot clock. They were just 3-of-9 on those attempts (33.3 percent). That isn’t going to cut it for the rest of this series, let alone in a potential second-round date with the Celtics.
The fix for the Knicks is actually pretty straightforward
Tons of credit must go to Detroit’s defense for putting New York in less-than-ideal circumstances. It is also not like the Knicks have operated entirely without urgency. On the contrary, only two teams are spending more time in transition after grabbing a live rebound.
Still, there is room to run even more. The starting five has done its part overall in this department. Almost 35 percent of their possessions after an opponent miss come on the break, one of the highest lineup marks in the playoffs. But the Knicks can get bogged down trying to get Brunson the ball after boarding a miss. More players should utilize their grab-and-go agency. Brunson can also display more urgency himself after receiving outlets.
Beyond that, New York must more quickly get into its half-court actions against Detroit’s set defense. Too many seconds are burned dribbling, without ever setting a ball screen or attacking inside the arc.
As The Athletic’s Fred Katz noted, there was a fourth quarter possession from Game 5 in which Brunson dribbled for “16 consecutive seconds” before Mikal Bridges set a ball screen. And on the half-court possession before that, another Bridges screen for Brunson didn’t connect until the shot clock was already half gone.
Attacking sooner is a controllable adjustment—not to mention an important one. It can put the Pistons in more feverish rotations, help draw more fouls, and enable the Knicks to win the possession-count battle by a larger margin than they currently hold. Above all, if Thibodeau won’t indulge any substantial lineup tweaks or experimentations, prioritizing offense urgency is among the achievable changes that can ensure this series doesn’t reach a Game 7.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.