Knicks won Game 1 by turning key Celtics' strength into their own

The Knicks stunned the defending champion Celtics, winning a Game 1 thriller in overtime 108-105. However, they didn't secure the win in ways anyone thought they would.

The Celtics shoot more threes than any team, they also make more than any team. Because the Knicks would never be able to match the Celtics' 3-point volume, I theorized before Game 1 that they instead should focus on ensuring the Celtics didn't get extra chances to score points by focusing on dominating the glass.

Ultimately, the Knicks not only failed to dominate the glass, but they completely lost the rebounding battle 59 to 49. Even more surprisingly, they gave up 19 offensive rebounds to the Celtics. It was Boston's second-highest offensive rebound total of the entire year.

Instead, the Knicks won the game by taking two of Boston's key strengths and making them their own. They shot significantly better than the Celtics from three and showed the same defensive flexibility that makes Boston so formidable.

Getting hot from three

I was correct that the Knicks wouldn't match the Celtics' volume from three; in fact, they didn't even come close. The Celtics took 60 threes, tied for their fourth-most this year. The Knicks, on the other hand, took 37, just three more than their regular-season average. The difference was that the Knicks made their threes. They shot just under 46 percent from three, while Boston was at 25 percent, which tied their fourth-worst mark of the season.

Og Anunoby (6-of-11), Jalen Brunson (5-of-9), and Deuce McBrie (3-of-6) all shot 50 percent or better from three. Mikal Bridges was right behind them, tacking on two more threes while shooting 40 percent from deep.

Switching on defense

On the defensive end, the Knicks took another page out of Boston's playbook by having Karl-Anthony Towns switch. Now, that is not to say that it didn't have its own downsides. Towns, who is prone to getting in foul trouble, got in foul trouble even quicker.

All of that said, the switching also had tremendous upsides. It kept the Knicks from having to scramble and get manipulated by a Celtics team that is exceptional at manipulating defenders and opening up space. The tracking and play type data has not been released for the game yet, but it also seemed to force the Celtics to spend more time in isolation.

The Celtics are already an isolation-heavy team. In the first round, they averaged more isolation possessions per game than every team except for the Timberwolves. The Celtics also have some very good isolation players, specifically Jayson Tatum, who are more than comfortable creating their own shot.

The reason the Knicks were likely okay with that is isolation plays are still low point per possession plays, especially compared to spot up possessions, which tend to stem from getting defenders in rotation.

The Knicks still face an uphill battle in this series. But one thing is now clear: they are willing to be malleable. They are willing to try to get wins in different ways, and that makes an upset all the more possible.