Celtics-Knicks: 4 things you have to see how Boston also has a series in game 4

New York – Playoff games can sometimes be due to human nature. There are inevitably some games in which one team is in a desperate situation than the other.

Game 4 of the semi -final series of the Eastern Conference between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks should not Be one of these games.

The Celtics certainly don't want to fall into a 3-1 hole, from which no team has come back in the past five years. The Knicks do not want to give up their series management and give the defending champions back the home advantage.

So we should take great efforts and concentrate from both teams in a “decisive” game 4 on Monday in Madison Square Garden.7:30 a.m., ESPN).

The Knicks must have a better start and avoid another 20-point deficit. The Celtics must match their decision -making on the offensive.

Here are four things that you should see in game 4 on Monday.

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1. Can Knicks create better recordings?

According to the second spectrum tracking, the kinks in the playoffs are most recently in the shooting quality, among the eight teams that were eliminated in the first round. Their shooting quality was lower against Detroit than against the Celtics, but Boston has the three highest points in the shooting quality in this series.

In the regular season, the Knicks took fifth place in the offensive efficiency, but only 22. In terms of the quality of their shots, they exceeded one of four teams that were classified in the Field Goal percentage in the painting, the mid-range-field goal percentage and the 3-point percentage.

They are certainly not exaggerated in this series. You have four of the 15 players with an effective field target percentage of below 48% with at least 30 shots in the conference.

The Knicks can definitely hope to shoot better in game 4, but the best way to shoot better is to create better recordings. Can you do that against this defense?

Since Jayson guards Karl-Anthony Towns, the Celtics have reduced the effectiveness of the Jalen Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll.

Brunson preferred to target Al Horford (usually with Josh Hart as a screener), but the Knicks only scored 0.76 points per chance when Horford was the defender of the screen on a ball screen for Brunson. This matchup produced some large shots from the Knicks point in the first two games, but Horford generally did good work before Brunson and enforced jump shots from the dribble:

The kinks may have to become more creative with their offenses. The Celtics don't want to leave Brunson, so that he could occasionally open a few things.

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2. The Celtics's choice of firing could be better

The Celtics did not turn well in this series. Of the 37 players with at least 30 field goal attempts in the conference -semi -final until Sunday Tatum (40.3%) and Jaylen Brown (40.2%) prove in an effective field goal percentage 34. And 35 ..

One of the main reasons for the dominance of the Celtics in the playoffs of the past year was their intention on the offensive. They knew where they wanted to attack, and they every time they did it on the floor and consistently achieved advantages.

If an advantage is created, the next step will read the defense and play the right game. And here the Celtics were simply not so sharp this year.

At the beginning of the third quarter on Saturday, Tatum recovered a defensive rebound with only cities between him and the basket, so Tatum made a big hit-ahaead pass. But Brown let the cities out of the hook, was attempted to fall 3 points instead of attacking and getting into the basket or drawing an additional defender:

The Celtics are still looking for the equipment they had when they went on the way to Banner No. 18 a year ago. You should continue to provide advantages for most possessions in this series and you can make the right readings better.

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3 .. transitional options are critical

Since both teams have to struggle aggressively, both need as many simple baskets as they can. And the winner of the first three games was the team that scored more points in the transition.

The Knicks had 1 or 2 17 and 22 transition points in the games, according to Synergy Tracking. But in game 3 they only had eight points to 11 transitional possessions, with only three out of the eight after the first three minutes of the first quarter. The Celtics had 3 20 transition points in game, their height for the series.

If you stop the other team from moving in the transition, the ball takes care. The Celtics had 21 live ball sales (New York Steals) in games 1 and 2, but only three in game 3.

If you can avoid giving the Knicks simple quick breaks, the Celtics have the defenders to thwart other transitional options.

In the middle of the first quarter on Saturday, Derrick White Josh Hart's initial pressure, joined Mikal Bridges on the 3-point line, stayed on a trip at bridges, remained falsified on a pump and contested a hard, basic sweater:

Both teams need simple baskets in this series, and both teams have to prevent them.

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4. Cities and Porzi will play, but will they play well?

Both teams enter into play 4 with questions about their (typical) starting centers. Kristaps Porziņģis has to deal with an illness and played only 46 minutes in the first three games. He has seven offensive and three blocks in these minutes, but only shot 3-on-12.

The Knicks were also successful (42 points on 34 chances) when Porzi ņģis was the screen defender in a pick-and-roll, and Luke Korket played well how the third center of the Celtics, even if it feels like everything he did, foul Mitchell Robinson. But at some point the Celtics will need more from Porziņģis.

The cities suffered on Saturday when he only shot 5 against 18 from the field. His presence and ability to switch off shots are more important for the Knicks than Porzi. The cities made only seven shots from beyond the arch in the three games, and four of these seven came from at least 28 feet.

Neither Porzingis nor cities are listed in the injury report, but that does not mean that game 4 will either be the best. And if both can contribute more than before, it could be a big swing for their team for their team in a game that swinging the series in both directions.

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John Schuhmann is a high -ranking statistical analyst at NBA.com. You can send him an email Herefind His archive here And Follow him on X.

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