Knicks' dumpster fire of a defense can be your fatal mistake

New York – For the second time in a row, the New York Knicks remained after answers.

The Pacers again took the Knicks on their home square and sprinted on Friday evening in the Eastern Conference final with a win of 114-109 in Madison Square Garden for a 2-0 lead. In all off -season starts in both halves, this team plagued. Friday was more the same.

The starting line -up -a group that the NBA played in minutes in the regular season, points, points, rebounds, assists and almost every big metrics in the 14 games that New York played in this off -season. This deletes the second worst unit by 16 points.

“I'm not sure, man,” said striker Mikal Bridges when he was asked to believe what went wrong. “I think it's a defensive thing. … You have to talk to each other out of the jump, be physically out of the leap. I think we may only play a little too soft at the beginning of the halves. Yes, I'm not sure.”

This is undoubtedly not the time of the season to play gently, especially in defense.

The Knicks suddenly face a discouraging scenario that has to win four of the next five games, the next two in Indianapolis to reach their first NBA final since 1999. In the NBA story, teams who took the lead in the conference finale have a combined recording of 76: 6. And if this is indeed in the New York season, the bridges are correct, a deadly mistake can be held responsible for everyone else: the Knicks have proven to be unable to take the pacers in the transition.

On Friday, when Tyrese Halliburton or Andrew Nembhard or another Pacer baller put the ball on the square, New York often lost an overview of Pacers, who left the action behind, which led to shots or kickouts with a high percentage to open players.

No pacer sat down more effectively through the transition defense in New York as Forward Pascal Siakam, who scored a career model of 39 points in the playoffs in a hyperefficient 15-von-23-huge night.

Siakam scored the first 11 points from Indiana, and two of his first three buckets came in the transition. One was a creative layup in which Knick's striker Josh Hart didn't help, and another was a wide -open dark after a New York turnover when the Knicks Siakam completely lost sight of in the transition.

“Whatever there was out there,” said Siakam, “I just took it.”

This start stuck the sound for the rest of the game.

The Pacers doubled the Knicks at Fastbreak points with 14: 7, although there were many other baskets in the second and third action, cuts into the basket that had unsettled the Knicks in their defense sets.

“You do really good job to move the ball and examine the ball as to force you into these mistakes,” said Hart. “We have to be more defensive and guard the first action and the second action, but also the third.

This is done after the game on Wednesday, when Indiana flashed in the fourth quarter of New York with speed and pace in the transition, the concern that the Knicks should be up to date on Sunday 3 (8:00 p.m. ET, TNT) promotes.

There is no scenario in which the Knicks return to this series without closer, more physical and more assertive defense.

After the game, the Knicks emphasized the trust that they could get there. All-Star Point Guard and captain Jalen Brunson were the loudest, which this put on.

“I mean we are in the conference finale,” said Brunson. “How, at the moment nothing else is important. We have a game every other day. We are fighting. We are at a very high moment. So the mental focus has to be there. There can be no question.”

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