The New York Knicks never found their footing in a 125- 111 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The loss spoiled the debuts of Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic.
New York’s shorthanded roster felt outgunned even with newcomers from Detroit, particularly in the paint. The Knicks were missing their first three centers on the depth chart, and Indiana took advantage. The Pacers outrebounded the Knicks 41 to 32, scored 62 points in the paint to New York’s 54, and shot 61 percent from the field overall.
To the Knicks’ credit, they fought hard. The game was tight through two quarters, and the Pacers’ lead didn’t swell until second-unit minutes in the third quarter and early fourth. New York’s offense looked strong as long as Jalen Brunson played, but their defense couldn’t string together stops.
The Knicks have lost three of their last four, and the All-Star break can’t come soon enough. Let’s examine their tough night and see how the new rotation looked.
The Knicks’ starters lack rim protection against the Pacers
Jalen Brunson: 39 PTS (14/25 FG, 1/5 3PT, 10/10 FT), 4 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL, 1 TO in 37 mins
Jalen Brunson carried New York’s offense on his back. He scored at will from everywhere but three, where most of his misses barely rimmed out. The Pacers tried all sorts of defenders to disrupt him, from Andrew Nembhard to Pascal Siakim. No amount of speed, physicality, or length could keep Brunson from scoring.
Brunson’s assist tally is down, but can we blame him? Donte DiVincenzo had a rare poor shooting night, and none of the other starters are threats from deep. When Brunson paired with Alec Burks in the fourth quarter, Burks received his best looks of the game and got hot from three. As efficiently as Brunson scored, it’s no surprise that he played in scoring mode rather than playmaking for most of the action.
Brunson looked brilliant. His 40 points would have been enough to win if the Knicks defended like they usually do. But with a severely limited roster, New York’s point guard never got the help he needed to close the score gap. Brunson receives a 4 out of 5 for nearly hitting 40 again.
Donte DiVincenzo: 14 PTS (6/15 FG, 2/9 3PT, 0/1 FT), 4 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 1 TO in 39 mins
Donte DiVincenzo’s hot streak came to an end. Indiana didn’t let him get good looks anywhere near the three-point line. He often fired from Steph Curry range to get a clean look off. DiVo also spent less time on the ball, mainly when he played with the second unit. I’d chalk that up as a mistake on the coaching side because we didn’t need so many Burks and Bogdanovic isolations.
The rest of DiVincenzo’s game held up well, with one exception. I caught several miscommunications between the Big Ragu and teammates on defense. The Pacers beat DiVo with some off-ball cuts where he clearly expected a switch. Most notably, his first off-ball action next to Burks ended in a wide-open dunk for Indiana.
DiVo’s weaker performance than usual feels like a matter of gelling. He didn’t get as many touches as in recent games, and the new players didn’t find him in his usual spots. That should improve with time. But for now, DiVincenzo gets a 2 out of 5 for scoring fewer points than his field goal attempts.
Josh Hart: 4 PTS (2/6 FG, 0/2 3PT), 5 AST, 10 REB, 1 STL, 1 TO in 36 mins
Josh Hart also looked snake-bitten in this game. He started the night shooting his open threes without hesitation. But after missing the first two, he changed strategies to dribbling into space. That approach was also ineffective since the Pacers gave him plenty of distance. He drove into contact nearly every time and rarely got the whistle.
I must mention the lack of whistles because Hart spent too much time jawing at the refs. As Josh argued with the refs about a call, Clyde mentioned that Hart leads the Knicks in technical fouls. Hart kept complaining and received another T a few minutes later. To his credit, there were some dubious foul calls when he guarded Tyrese Haliburton.
Hart had a bad game, but it’s worth mentioning that he hit double-digit rebounds again. He tallied 5 assists, which led the team even though other players initiated the offense all night. So, let’s give Josh some leeway. Hart gets a 2 out of 5 off sheer hustle.
Precious Achiuwa: 15 PTS (6/6 FG, 1/1 3PT, 2/2 FT), 6 REB, 2 STL, 3 BLK, 2 TO in 43 mins
Precious Achiuwa looked outmatched on defense. He started the game chasing Pascal Siakim around to middling results. Then, he frequently moved over to center and struggled with a pair of Pacers’ bigs who looked too big for him. Myles Turner is a handful for anyone, but even Isaiah Jackson seemed to overwhelm Precious in the paint.
That’s not to throw Precious under the bus. He poked a few balls loose from ball-handlers, including Siakim. Achiuwa finished the game with 5 Stocks (steals and blocks), but his lack of rebounding hurt. He couldn’t keep Indiana off the glass, and even with 3 blocks, his rim protection felt limited.
Achiuwa’s offense wasn’t bad. He shot 100 percent from the field, including a three-pointer along the baseline. But he didn’t have Isaiah Hartenstein to go “bash brothers” with on defense, and it showed. Precious gets a 2.5 out of 5 for scoring well but struggling with the Pacers’ size.
Taj Gibson: 0 PTS (0/4 FG), 1 AST, 3 REB in 19 mins
Taj Gibson didn’t have much to provide in this game. He worked hard, and we’ll always appreciate his endless effort. But Gibson didn’t find any areas to impact the game. He even missed his patented baseline 15-footers.
I won’t linger on a bad performance from a player thrust into a tough spot. Taj probably should have come off the bench, where he’d at least compete against players similar in size rather than battling with a seven-footer on a limited gas tank. Taj gets a 0.5 out of 5 for failing to impact the game, but I’m not mad at him.
New York’s second unit needs time to gel
Miles McBride: 6 PTS (2/4 FG, 0/2 3PT, 2/2 FT), 2 REB, 1 STL in 11 mins
Deuce McBride felt like a casualty of the new second unit taking time to gel. He hardly played on the ball and had to take matters into his own hands for one of his only two field goals. While Burks and Bogdanovic iso’ed, Deuce was left to watch from the weak side.
McBride’s tough night on defense was only surprising if you’re unfamiliar with TJ McConnell’s random explosions against the Knicks. McConnell couldn’t miss and used his frustrating elusiveness to get shots near the rim. We rarely see Deuce struggle this much on defense. But McConnell has a habit of turning into prime Chris Paul against New York.
The result of a poor defensive outing on a unit that lacked ball movement is a rough night. Deuce gets a 1.5 out of 5 for getting outplayed by one of my least favorite players in the NBA.
Alec Burks: 22 PTS (7/14 FG, 4/7 3PT, 4/4 FT), 1 AST, 2 REB, 3 TO in 22 mins
I have to reacquaint myself with Alec Burks’ shot selection. He played the lead ball handler far more than I’m comfortable with because he calls his number too often. Burks took a bunch of tough shots that left me cringing. But as much as I’m complaining, a surprising number of his attempts went down.
Don’t get that mistaken as an endorsement for Burks running the point for the second unit. He had some ghastly turnovers, and most of his field goals came off assists from teammates. His ability to make shots over a defender is easier to appreciate when he’s using it on rare occasions and not on every other possession.
I have to mention defense before moving on. Burks’ defense was the worst on the team by a wide margin. He missed switches, closed out in slow motion, and forgot help defense exists. As much as he injected scoring into the second unit, I was exasperated at how awful he defended. I’m giving Burks a 2 out of 5 because the box score is nice, but the dreadful defense and passing drag down his impact.
Bojan Bogdanovic: 11 PTS (3/10 FG, 2/6 3PT, 3/4 FT), 1 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL in 33 mins
I expect Bojan Bogdanovic to shoot better than he did in his debut. The Knicks’ offense often created openings for him, but he missed open looks at times while teammates failed to spot him occasionally. He tried some isolations but was unable to get anything going.
It’s worth noting that Bojan was questionable to play due to calf soreness. That may explain his ineffective one-on-one play and the open looks he couldn’t knock down. We could also chalk it up to lack of rhythm in a new squad or nerves in front of a raucous Garden crowd. Regardless of the excuse, it’s fair to expect better.
Bojan’s defense wasn’t as bad as Burks, but it wasn’t much better. He at least gives effort but has limitations in lateral movement and speed. So, this was a disappointing debut for Bogdanovic. But based on the number of open looks he got with this depleted unit, we’ll appreciate this trade after more games. Bojan receives a 1.5 out of 5 for a tough debut.
Tom Thibodeau can’t do much until players get healthy
I have complaints about some of Tom Thibodeau’s decisions in this loss, but it’s tough to get too upset when he had so few options.
No one can fault Thibodeau for starting his only center, Taj Gibson, but I wish he’d given Gibson more opportunities against the Pacers’ second unit. I understand why he frequently put the ball in his new players’ hands, but I think that killed the ball movement that had pushed players like McBride and DiVincenzo to success.
Most of my concerns are with decisions that Thibs never has to make when the roster is healthy. They’re not major problems but differences of opinion about his approach to this tough circumstance. He’s earned my patience, especially with all these injuries.
Closing Thoughts
It’s rare to see the Knicks hit a tough patch without the fanbase panicking. We’re a passionate fanbase, so most losses feel like the end of the world. But Knicks fans felt optimistic despite this loss to Indiana.
It’s hard to overreact when OG, Randle, Mitch, Hartenstein, and Sims are all missing. Of course, the Knicks lost the battle in the paint with that much size missing. I’m more frustrated that the missing players meant Indiana could play physically, make some dirty fouls despite a big lead, and cheese it up whenever Haliburton hit a contested three.
I’d relish a first-round matchup with these Pacers. I’d expect Jalen Brunson to torch them, while Haliburton would have a tougher time when OG’s draped on him with Mitch or Hartenstein waiting in the paint. Plus, I want to see TJ McConnell get a shot swatted by one of our giants.
Sorry, I got distracted by frustration. The important note is that the Knicks are far better than their result last night, and everyone recognizes that fact.
The Rockets are next at the end of a long road trip. That’s an opportunity for the depleted Knicks to play a similarly fatigued opponent. Let’s see how they handle the matchup and discuss the results after. I’ll catch you then, Knicks fam!
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