The Knicks have a positive score differential in every quarter of these playoffs, almost. In the third quarter, they have been outscored by 33 points, the worst differential of any team for that quarter.
The problem has repeated itself continuously for five games, as the Knicks have been outscored by the Pistons in every third quarter of the series. The Knicks are averaging a measly 21.8 points in the third, which is continuously forcing them to pull off heroic fourth quarters to attempt to make up for it.
Mikal Bridges' simple fix
Mikal Bridges has had his own individual issues in the third quarter of this series. The two-way wing is scoring 2.6 points per game in the third, his lowest of any total. Following their Game 5 loss, he was asked about the team's lackluster performances coming out of halftime.
Bridges admitted he wasn't sure what the cause was, but suggested the team needs to move around more before resuming playing, saying, "I don't know man, I think we gotta do some layup lines or something coming out of halftime. Get everybody out there moving."
It seems simple, almost silly even, but at the point the Knicks should be willing to try anything.
Consistently coming up short
No team in the league can play 48 minutes of perfect basketball; that's an impossible expectation. But for a team like the Knicks, they are playing competitive basketball for three quarters and getting demolished in one. The same one, over and over.
If we want to look at it even more granularly, we can break each third quarter down into three four-minute buckets. Across the five games, that would give us 15 buckets. The Pistons won 11 of those four-minute stretches, by a total margin of 49 points. The Knicks won three of them, by a total of 13 points, while the teams tied one of them
It is not just that the Knicks' offense grinds to a halt in the third quarter; their defense struggles in the period as well. The Knicks are conceding 28.4 points per game this series in the third, the sixth-most of any team. For Detroit, it is the quarter they have scored the most this series.
We can only speculate what the real cause is. It could be tired legs from too many minutes, or it could be that their adrenaline dips after halftime and takes a little while to ramp back up. Whatever the reason is, the Knicks need to identify it and fix it. Their plan can't be to just "overcome" in the fourth quarter, and if it is, their playoff days are numbered.