Pacers 111, Knicks 106: Andrew @#$%&*! Nembhard
A chance to go up 3-0 slipped through the Knicks’ grasp, but in reaching for new answers they may have found new hope
Physicians, coaches and parents across youth sports have raised the alarm in recent years that a growing number of young athletes are suffering more and more injuries than ever. Young pitchers throwing more innings than ever are going down hurt more than ever; young basketball players playing 1000 AAU games a year are at higher risk for overuse injuries, like the one that cost Julius Randle his rookie season; young female athletes disproportionately suffer ACL tears. One theory for why the rate of these injuries is exploding is overuse. Back in the day kids played different sports all year round, meaning the exertion placed on certain muscle groups or joints was spread out. Now many are pushed by adults to focus on one sport they hope becomes their moneymaker. But before they can break the bank, they’re breaking down.
Balance is essential in life, in playing sports and even in watching them. So while the New York Knicks 111-106 loss in Indiana last night stung some – it was their first L in 10 days and shrunk their series lead to 2-1 – it’s useful to view the outcome through a different lens. The basketball fan in you may be sick at the thought that they were tied in the final minute with a chance to go up 3-0. But instead of thinking like a basketball fan, let’s return to the diamond for some perspective.
In baseball a loss can function as a win, especially in the playoffs. If a team’s ace pitcher has been struggling for a month, someone they know they can’t ultimately win without, and he gives up two runs over seven innings in a 2-1 loss, striking out 14, that feels like a win. Getting him back on track lessens the pressure on the other starters, lessens the burden on the bullpen and can help the offense, too – hitting is hard enough without feeling like you have to score 4-6 runs just to have a chance. Knowing your ace is in form means 2-3 runs can be enough.
The Knicks are so shorthanded this postseason it feels like their opponents have been on the power play more than the Rangers’ Stanley Cup foes. With Jalen Brunson questionable with a foot injury and without OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanović – all lost for the season during the postseason – the Knicks continue to push themselves against everything we think we know about grit and the limits of the human body. Why not rest Brunson, allowing him three full days of rest, punt on Game 3 and let it all ride on Game 4? Win that one behind a refreshed Brunson and you’re up 3-1 heading home for the kill.
Dude. Do you even Knicks?
Of course that’s not what happened. They fought as always till the 48th minute. But there was enough beauty in the breakdown to suggest they may have gained more losing the way they did than continuing to try and win the way they have been.
Brunson played 38 minutes and Josh Hart 43. That’s the fewest those two have played in a game in a month. Alec Burks saw 21 minutes of action, his most since Valentine’s Day, and responded with 14 big points. After Miles McBride’s minutes fell the last three games, he bounced back with 29 minutes, 10 points and the only effective defense I’ve ever seen a Knick play against T.J. McConnell. Heck, Jericho Sims saw the floor for just the third time in New York’s last 19 contests.
The Pacers are trying to win a war of attrition; they have been all series. In the best of times they’d look to run as much as they can against the Knicks, not only because it goes against New York’s preferred pace but because in general the earlier teams get a look in the shot clock, the more efficient those looks tend to turn out. But seeing the M*A*S*H* unit the Knicks have been and continue to be, they’re ramping up the pressure, not only offensively but defensively. The last team I remember pressuring the Knicks this much on inbounds or simply bringing the ball up the floor was the first Chicago threepeat, when Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant made a Hades of the hardwood: Cerberus split from one dog into three, lightning fast with wingspans stretching from Tartarus to Olympus. Indiana is taxing Brunson mentally and physically, hounding him for 50-60 feet every possession. Think it’s as simple as “Have someone else bring the ball up?” Now you’re playing checkers when Rick Carlisle is trying to play chess.
Having Hart or Donte DiVincenzo bringing the ball up allows the Pacers to either blitz a lesser passer than Brunson or ensure that whenever the ball does end up in his hands, it’s with a reduced shot clock. But that pulls Hart away from the paint, where he’s rebounding like the confused love child of Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley, while taking DiVincenzo, the Knicks’ hottest shooter the past four games, out of the mostly off-ball role he’s been so successful in. It doesn’t seem like this season will come down to any one thing McBride or Burks do, but the cumulative effect of them adding their hands to the cause means less weight for the others to carry. At this point in the playoffs, less is more for New York.
Missing out on going up 3-0 is always a little painful, but like last series the Knicks remain in the catbird seat. Win tomorrow afternoon and they’ll return to MSG with three chances to win one game and advance to the conference finals. Win the next two and they might actually enjoy some extended rest, if Cleveland’s win over Boston wasn’t a flash in the pan. OG Anunoby is listed as questionable, a designation that means nothing to the Knicks; he was “questionable” for weeks if not months while out injured eariler this season. If “Weekend at Bernie’s” played for the Knicks, he’d have been questionable since 1989.
If a better balanced Knick team can grind out two more wins, they could improve their odds of getting their best defender back for their biggest games in 25 freaking years. Winning a couple of games ASAP might be the difference between reaching the Finals or a lifetime of what-ifs. The Knicks will need more of their lesser lights the next few days. Hopefully, that less ends up meaning more.
