The New York Knicks dropped Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series with the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night, and now trail the best of seven series 2 games to 1. The Knicks now face a “must win” or as their players have called it a “gut check” game tomorrow night in Indianapolis.

 

This post on “Frank’s Forum” will look at the issues from Game 3 and what I view, as a long time fan of the Knicks, as the adjustments that should be made for Game 4 tomorrow night.

 

Game 3: A Look Back

 

In order to move forward, sometimes you need to look back, and the lackluster effort the Knicks provided in Game 3 is one that they would probably just assume forget. However, they did some things that are concerning that merit some review here.

 

First, the Knicks did not get any rebounds in their defensive end of the floor. The Pacers would miss a shot and then get the offensive rebound and get second chance opportunities to score. I understand that the Pacers have a bigger lineup especially in the frontcourt, and the Knicks are playing their small lineup rather than playing two big players, but the Knicks have to clean this up in Game 4.

 

Next, the Knicks had a good defensive game plan overall in Game 3 because the Pacers shot 35% from the floor in the game. It was all the Pacers active work on the boards getting offensive rebounds and extra possessions that made the difference in the game.

 

Then, the Knicks uncharacteristically turned the ball over more than they usually do in Game 3, they appeared sloppy in certain possessions, and the Pacers took advantage of those turnovers. Entering Game 3, the Knicks had the lowest turnovers per game average in the NBA, so it was very strange to see them turn the ball over in the manner that they did on Saturday night. I would be surprised if they had consecutive games of high turnovers.

 

The other issue was shot selection, the story around the Knicks today at practice was the comments made by Tyson Chandler after the game, I will paraphrase: the Knicks are too selfish with the ball offensively. While he was clearly frustrated after a loss, and should have maybe kept those comments inside until they had a team meeting; I tend to agree with Chandler.

 

I am a huge Carmelo Anthony fan, he is my favorite player, but I do tend to criticize the Knicks for running too many isolation plays for him and for J.R. Smith. I understand that Carmelo’s role is to score, but if other guys have open looks, I would rather see him pass the ball to an open shooter with a clean look.  Now, J.R. Smith is an entirely different situation, he has played very inconsistently in this recent stretch of games and has not looked right since missing the game in the Boston series where he was suspended for elbowing Jason Terry.

 

The Knicks shot selection in Game 3 was very erratic, and very different from their normal game plan and offensive strategy. It was one of the reasons they lost that night in Indiana. Smith is hoisting shots from deep 3 point range, Jason Kidd is taking bad shots, and Anthony was forcing shots from all over the floor.

 

Finally, the Knicks got eaten alive by Hibbert in the paint in Game 3, it is my understanding watching the post game coverage on MSG Network, that the Knicks intended to trap Hibbert, but they were never in the right position defensively to trap him and help Chandler.

 

Game 4: A look ahead and adjustments needed

The Knicks need to make adjustments for Game 4 tomorrow including:

1. Getting rebounds in their defensive end of the floor and not allowing the Pacers second chance shots and extra possessions
2. They have to move the ball and pass it cleaner and limit turnovers
3. The Knicks have to push the ball and get run outs when they can and take advantage of the Pacers bigger, slower players by getting out on fast breaks
4. The Knicks have to be more aggressive offensively, they have to use Felton more effectively driving the ball to the rim and then kicking to open shooters or Felton scoring the ball, they need to use the pick and roll and screen and roll much more in Game 4.
5. The Knicks have to use better shot selection in order to win tomorrow night – less isolation plays for Anthony and Smith – and use their strengths more effectively.
6. The Knicks have to limit Hibbert and either trap him or rotate another big player on the frontline to help Chandler especially early in the game to try and take Hibbert out of the flow of the game.

 

If the Knicks can make some of these adjustments they should win Game 4 and get back to New York with the series even when they host Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. If not, and they trail this series going to Game 5, they will have much worse problems ahead.