The Three Things Knicks Must Do To Get To a Game Seven

With their backs up against the wall and facing elimination, the New York Knicks took to the court Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, and in front of 19,812 screaming, loyal fans, played their best game of the postseason, dominating the Indian Pacers from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer, en route to a 111-94 victory.

Jalen Brunson - AKA, Mr. Clutch - led all scorers with 32 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns - playing with a bad knee - dominated in the paint with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

But just like in the fourth quarter of game three, there were plenty of heroes for the men in orange and blue, starting with the head coach. Tom Thibodeau went with an unprecedented ten-man rotation. This meant the starters weren't gassed in the closing minutes of the game. Not one Knick logged more than 36 minutes.

Landry Shamet and Delon Wright continued to impress coming off the bench, as did Precious Achiuwa, who has appeared in only nine of the Knicks 17 playoff games. All three were plusses on the night. 

But the biggest reason this series is going back to Indiana for a game six was the New York defense, which was, in a word, incredible. The Knicks forced the Pacers into a half-court offense, something they don't thrive in. Tyrese Haliburton, who had quite possibly his best game as a Pacer in game four, had a defender on him every time he touched the ball. Indeed, every Pacer was guarded closely throughout the game. It's the first time we've seen the Knicks this aggressive on defense all season, and it worked. 

Before the start of the Eastern Conference finals, I wrote that if this series became a track meet, the Knicks would lose; if it became more of a half-court series, the Knicks would win. Well the Knicks finally got the memo in game five.

So what do the Knicks have to do tonight to force a game seven back at the Garden?

1. Dictate the pace. Rick Carlisle will make adjustments, just as he has done throughout the series, but it still comes down to which team controls the tempo. The Pacers will want to run and gun; the Knicks must remain disciplined and not allow them to. Brian Windhorst of ESPN put it this way. If the score is 26-24 after one, regardless of who is ahead, that bodes well for the Knicks; if the score is 38-35, that bodes well for the Pacers. In other words, if it's a high-scoring game, the Knicks will likely be eliminated. 

2. Defend, defend, defend. The best way to control the tempo of this game is to make Indiana work for every basket it gets. That means that Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby have to guard Haliburton and Pascal Siakam like their lives depend on it. No wide-open three-point attempts like the Pacers had in games one, two and four. Every shot has to be contested, no exceptions.

3. KAT has to continue to dominate in the paint. When Towns has played at his best, the Pacers have had no answers for him. Myles Turner tries, but he's badly outclassed. Indeed, it seems the only one capable of stopping Towns is Towns himself. With the Knicks leading 72-52 halfway through the third quarter in game five, KAT picked up his fourth foul, forcing Thibs to pull him, which led to a 12-2 run by Indiana. He has to be smarter than that in game six for the Knicks to survive.

Now it's entirely possible the Knicks could do all this and still lose the game. As I wrote in my preview, this is an excellent Pacers team. Since January 1, they have the fourth best record in the NBA. You don't accomplish that just by beating scrub teams.

But one thing is certain: if the Knicks fail to do the above, their season will be over.

You can take that to the bank.