The NBA playoffs are all about mismatches. They are about finding a pressure point and applying pressure over and over again until your opponent submits. Coming into their series against the Celtics, one of the biggest questions was how the Knicks would hide Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Brunson and Towns are the Knicks' two best offensive players, and, usually, their two biggest liabilities on the defensive end. Through their first two games, however, Brunson and Towns haven't just held their own on the defensive end; they have exceeded any and all expectations.
To be clear, Towns brings value to the defensive end in a variety of ways. First of all, he is massive and incredibly strong, as well as being one of the premier defensive rebounders in the entire league. He tends to flounder when he gets switched onto smaller, quicker players, however, and is a poor rim protector for his size and position.
Brunson, on the other hand, has physical limitations that make it hard to compete on that end of the floor. He is undersized, by NBA standards, so that even when he is able to stay in front of someone, they usually are able to rise up and shoot over him. That said, he is tough as nails and takes a ton of charges.
On a team with some of the best defenders in the universe, specifically OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, it would make sense that a team would try to expose the weaker Brunson and Towns.
Holding up on switches
The Knicks have been switching more than they did all season on picks, something I have written about several times and won't get into too much depth about here. In short, it allows the Knicks' defense to stay out of rotation, while forcing the Celtics to play more isolation offense.
One of the other benefits of this strategy is that it forced the Celtics to take more of their 3-point attempts off of the dribble, rather than swinging the ball around the floor and having the Knicks' defense scramble. Through two games, the Celtics have taken more of their threes without passing multiple times.
The expected downsides were that the Knicks' weaker defenders were going to be stuck on the perimeter, possibly without help, defending some of the best offensive players on the planet. Brunson and Towns have stepped up to the plate and then some when placed in those exact situations.
In the second round, Towns has defended 14 direct isolations (excluding double teams), the third-most of any player. He has allowed a mere 0.33 points per direct isolation, which is the best mark among any player to guard at least five isolations.
Brunson has been targeted in eight isolations, six of them against Jaylen Brown. On those plays, he has allowed only 0.75 points per direct isolation.
Job is not finished
The Celtics will undoubtedly continue to target Brunson in Towns in Games 3 and 4, relying on their reputation over their careers instead of what they have done over the previous two games.
The All-Star duo has an opportunity to prove them wrong again by continuing to outperform their reputations. In their minds, it is still 0-0. Just as the Celtics sweeping them in the regular season meant nothing by the playoffs, the Knicks will treat their next two home games as a mini-series. A mini series in which they will have to rise to the occasion and prove their doubters wrong again.