They say necessity is the mother of invention, and if Tom Thibodeau's coaching display during the New York Knicks' Game 3 victory over the Indiana Pacers is any indication, they're right.
Forced to adapt in the face of less-than-ideal circumstances, Thibs discovered a hack that just might propel his team to the NBA Finals. And it’s not the starting lineup change. It is the way he used Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson: separately, and thus, optimally.
Staggering Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson is working.
Splitting up Brunson and Towns is working much better. Just look at the Knicks’ on-off breakdown, courtesy of PBP Stats:
- Brunson, without Towns: Plus-10 points in 42 minutes
- Towns, without Brunson: Plus-15 points in 35 minutes
- Brunson and Towns together: Minus-20 points in 65 minutes
Foul trouble from both stars in Game 3 demanded a more unique reliance on these separate units. That isn’t technically ideal on its face. You want your two best offensive players on the floor together, in theory.
Still, detaching Brunson and Towns from each other has clear advantages that put either star in position to succeed.
Let’s start with Brunson. Playing him without Towns almost always means Mitchell Robinson is on the court, and New York’s floor general is at his most comfortable when he has a hard screen setter who pulls in defenses on his rolls to the basket. Towns is more of a pick-and-pop option, so there’s less ground for defenses to cover when his screens are set up top. He’s also not going to generate as much separation on those same screens as Robinson.
For Towns’ part, meanwhile, playing without Brunson forces him to be more aggressive, as we saw in Game 3. The Knicks are a much better team when Towns is uncorking threes, getting downhill, and punishing small and big players alike on the block. Putting him in lineups where he has no choice other than to be the offensive lifeline taps into the best aspects of his game, and is not something Thibodeau has experimented enough with…until now.
Speaking of which…
Thibodeau found a new lineup to keep rolling out against the Pacers
The same foul trouble that left Brunson tethered to the bench also paved the way for Thibs to field a previously unused five-man combination that absolutely killed it. Towns played alongside Josh Hart, Deuce McBride, Delon Wright and Landry Shamet for just three minutes, but they were three electric minutes that warrant further exploration.
This quintet appears a little counterintuitive on paper. It’s not. The group forces Towns to be more aggressive on offense while protecting him at the other end. Everyone with the exception of Shamet is capable of guarding across the positional spectrum, and even Shamet has shown he will scrap and claw around screens, and when offenses try to post him up.
Buying time with this group also means that Brunson, Robinson, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges can spend the maximum amount of time together. That foursome checks all the most coveted boxes for this team. Brunson is sufficiently insulated from the outside in on defense, he has a rim-runner next to him, and Bridges and Anunoby provide enough floor-spacing and seocndary on-ball to let the floor general breathe.
This approach can push the Knicks to the NBA Finals
Look, when it matters most, Thibs will amost assuredly still return to the Brunson-KAT well. We saw as much in crunch time of Game 3. And though Thibs must have the wherewithal to deviate if it’s not working, the inclination is understandable.
Increasing the time Brunson and Towns spends apart isn’t about entirely breaking them up. It’s more about improving the full-game product. It puts both in more comfortable offensive and defensive positions for long stretches, and by extension, increases both the Knicks’ margin for error, and their ability to pull away.
Thibs has every reason to continue pressing this button in Game 4, and beyond. It just might be the adjustment that allows the Knicks to make NBA history in these Eastern Conference Finals, and set them up for a chance to win the franchise’s first championship since 1973.