DETROIT — A reasonable tally of the best six players in this series would include five Knicks. They entered with the talent advantage over the Pistons, with two All-Star starters and an offense that ranked in the NBA’s top five.
But every contest had turned into a struggle heading into Thursday’s Game 6. The victories were as difficult as the defeats.
They had outscored the Pistons by a combined one point while leading the series, 3-2.?
Their offense was stuck in the mud, with too many Houdini acts from Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.?
Possessions rarely felt smooth.
The good news, according to Josh Hart, is the Knicks were operating at well below optimal, which means they theoretically should have a much higher gear.
Given how the Pistons series unfolded before Thursday, they would need much better to compete in the next round against the Celtics.
“Not at all [have we played our best basketball]. Not even close,” Hart said. “I think we’ve had spurts where we’ve played very well and then we’ve had spurts where we’ve played terrible — i.e., that third quarter [in Game 5].
“So we have to make sure we find ways to keep good flow and good rhythm all the way throughout the game. That’s playing faster, that’s making them make decisions, and when you make teams make decisions you put them in a position to make mistakes. When you put them in that position, then you can counter and make them pay for those mistakes. That’s something that we’ve got to do, we’ve got to play with more pace and make sure we get everybody involved with [Jalen Brunson], [Towns], but also Mikal and OG [Anunoby], go out there and hoop. I think that’s the biggest thing — play with pace throughout the whole game and put them in positions to make mistakes.”
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Hart always harps on quickening the pace and it certainly suits his strengths in transition.
But the Knicks should have advantages in other areas given their personnel, with Brunson, Towns and Bridges all capable of creating for themselves in the halfcourt.?
Instead, the Knicks entered Thursday shooting just 44 percent in the series — well below their 48 percent mark in the regular season. Most alarming, they were averaging just 20.7 assists compared to their 27.5 assists in the regular season.
Ball movement ceased.
“I think offensively I think we — I — struggled offensively,” Brunson said. “I feel like I’m bringing up the ball, I have the ball most of the time, so it starts with me. So in order to be better offensively as a team, I need to be better making decisions and making sure I’m putting my teammates in the best position to be successful. So it starts with me.”
Is it a product of playing poorly or just a natural consequence of defensive intensity ratcheting up in the playoffs??
“I think a mixture of both,” Brunson said. “Playoff basketball, we’ve been playing the same [team] for now, this is the sixth time. I’m pretty sure they know us, and we know them.
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“We’re in a position now where we need to just go out and just earn it. It’s not going to be given to us, they’re not gonna hand anything over. We gotta go out there and play the best we can regardless of what’s happening. It’s never gonna be easy. We’ve just gotta go out there and go get it.”
Of course, the other higher seeds in the Eastern Conference all had it easier. The Knicks were the only one not to get through the first round after five games. The Celtics will have rested before facing the winner of the Knicks-Pistons series.
That’s a consequence of New York not showing its best.
“I don’t think any of us thought this series was going to be a cakewalk,” Hart said. “This is a heck of a team [the Pistons] over there with a really good coach and coaching staff. We respect them. So we’ve just got to make sure we focus on that. The other teams can get rest, it’s cool for them, you know. We’ve got to make sure we take care of what we can take care of and control.”
