thelesterlee
We can be crybabies, complaining about the refs missing calls or Tyrese Haliburton’s dad being allowed in the arena or the locker rooms showers being slightly cold or whatever—OR—we can lick our wounds, head back to Madison Squade Garden for Game 5 and turn Rick Carlisle into the new Doc Rivers as the Indiana Pacers blow a 3-1 lead to the New York Knicks.
So let’s look at how the Knicks can comeback and win the Eastern Conference Finals:
Josh Hart can’t be on the court this much
Mitchell Robinson is one of the best rebounders in the NBA—tipping balls over the heads of opposing would-be rebounders like he’s playing keep-away from his baby cousin.
His height and quick vertical leaping at the rim turns layups into hope-so’s.
His wingspan and hand-eye coordination tightens passing lanes—generating deflections and steals—preventing teams from even getting shot attempts up—something the Knicks are desperate for against a Pacers team that starts every single one of these games shooting 2000% from the field.
Josh Hart is a really good rebounder.
That’s it.
Soooooo, when you hear Mitchell Robinson is starting over Josh Hart—you sort of assume Robinson will play more minutes, right?
In Game 4, Mitchell Robinson played 19 minutes and Josh Hart played 35.
Josh Hart committed 5 disgusting turnovers against a team that fills their plate with fastbreak points.
Then he fouled out.
Sick.
Robinson had a little trouble when he switched out to perimeter players but Josh Hart had a little trouble with everything.
Hart’s superpower is his ability to track rebounds off a shooter’s hands. Dennis Rodman shit.
When he takes a defensive rebound or an outlet pass down the court to initiate a fastbreak—on his 2020 Ben Simmons shit—he generates easy buckets at the rim.
But the latter skill doesn’t help the Knicks against a Pacers team that wants the Knicks to score quickly.
Anytime Josh Hart charges down the court for a wild layup attempt, a couple Pacers don’t even run with him—betting on the chances Hart fucks it up, just waiting for Tyrese to get the rebound and Patrick Mahomes it to them by the rim for two fast points.
In the halfcourt offense, Hart throws lazy, lackadaisical passes that the Pacers defense is just taking from him.
Or he’ll force passes to players swarmed by Pacers jerseys because he took one dribble and nervously jumped in the air—unable to land to avoid a travel.
Hart is a liability in this series—especially with his, let’s call it “unique” defensive style.
Josh Hart knows he’s often sharing the court with Karl-Anthony Towns—a 7-footer with Miss Sara Bellum’s delicate legs and Jalen Brunson—a 5-footer who can be physically bullied.
So Josh Hart’s developed this free safety defense—constantly anticipating one of his teammates inevitable mistakes so he can rush in and recover—but in order to for this style to be successful, he has to, like, be sneaky not to tip off the ballhandler of his secret masterplan—and that sneakiness means he can’t outwardly communicate to his other teammates what he’s doing, so he can’t tell them to keep an eye on his man, leading to easy cuts to the basket alllllllll game long.
When everyone’s mentally locked in and had a full night’s rest and a hearty breakfast and the Knicks are playing against the Chicago Bulls, it works.
But in the midst of a pressure-packed Eastern Conference Finals against a Pacers offense where players are rarely standing stagnant, Josh Hart is asking his teammates to think and overthink more than they should.
He’s literally making everyone’s jobs harder.
All game long, you see Pacers get wide open shots or strut into the paint untouched as Josh Hart makes a face, blaming one of his teammates for their inability to read his mind.
The Knicks still feel like they’re getting to know each other.
Josh Hart’s style of play works but not against the Pacers—who play like they have a hive mind and total trust in each other.
The Knicks need Josh Hart, unfortunately.
They don’t need 35 fucking minutes of Josh Hart.
Generate Good Threes
Jalen Brunson is an automatic bucket. Truly the most talented player I’ve ever seen in a Knicks jersey.
But on a team where he and Karl-Anthony Towns are two of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA, you’d love for one of them to, ya know, take some.
I know both players have Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith give them no space to get 3s up but that’s why you do this thing called “passing the ball”.
It happened once. Maaaaaybe twice.
Bridges took the ball up the court. KAT and Brunson both screened for Bridges, forcing 3 Pacers defenders to scramble while both Brunson and KAT popped, and then a 3-man weave on the perimeter started where Bridges, KAT and Brunson passed the ball back and forth to each other, confusing the defense leading to an easy, wide-open 3.
Both KAT and Brunson are relentless in their pursuit of the rim but their only intentions are to score or get to the free throw line—the latter not guaranteed in a postseason where the referees randomly decide to turn ‘full contact mode’ on and off without informing the players.
Every time they drive, they collapse defenses on top of them but Brunson and KAT have nothing else on their minds other than the points next to their names on the final box scores.
The Knicks make offense harder than it needs to be.
While Brunson or Towns are swarmed by defenders in the paint, Deuce McBride and Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet are always standing wide open behind the 3-point line—never getting a kick out for an easy, open 3 because the two best players on the team want to prove how great they are instead of how great their team is.
And that mentality trickles down to everyone.
When OG and Bridges are cutting to the basket or hitting open 3’s in rhythm or running the floor in transition, the Knicks offense is unstoppable.
But we don’t see that version of the Knicks often.
Instead, we see OG and Bridges standing around watching KAT and Brunson iso, so when they finally get the ball, they get selfish too—launching up disgusting contested shots you pray go in.
The Knicks need to pass the fucking ball.
Can the Knicks make the historic 3-1 comeback?
Unless the Knicks sat on the floor of the team plane playing freshmen dorm icebreakers, telling two truths and a lie, they’re doomed.
The Indiana Pacers sacrifice for each other—like the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both teams deserve to be in the NBA Finals.
The Knicks play like a bunch of guys who care about how many points and rebounds are next to their names in the boxscore.
Between Jalen Brunson exclusively looking for his own shot while consistently fouling on defense as his dad, the assistant coach, cheers him on in Knicks gear—Josh Hart knowing his best friend sucks at defense and always looking to protect him, at the cost of throwing the other 3 defenders under the bus—and Tom Thibodeau watching Jalen ballhog and Josh ball watch, never correcting or addressing their obvious flaws—this Knicks team has no chance to beat the Indiana Pacers unless Thibs gets fired tonight or Brunson and Hart cancel their little podcast.
There’s clear special treatment allowing game-losing tendencies from the best player and his best friend—leading to a bunch of guys out there who don’t trust each other and are all watching out for their own backs.
The Knicks aren’t a team.
The Pacers are.
See y’all next year.
(lol jk Knicks in 7)
If you enjoyed what you read, head over to our Substack. We’ve got more content making fun of the ridiculous world we live in, sent directly to your email inbox daily.
Follow us over on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings