Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks
The New York Knicks dropped their second consecutive game to the Indiana Pacers. Tom Thibodeau’s team now trails the Eastern Conference Finals 0-2.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the game, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith released a fiery rant at Thibodeau. The veteran media personality was unimpressed with Thibodeau’s decision to limit Karl-Anthony Towns‘ playing time to 28 minutes.
“I’m trying to keep my cool,” Smith said. “There’s always hope. But, I don’t understand for the life of me how in the hell Tom Thibodeau has KAT playing just 28 minutes. He’s going to try to tell us it was defense, but with Mitchell Robinson on the court, the deficit increased. Jalen Brunson, that shot near the end of regulation, I don’t know what that was about. I don’t know what else to say.”
Smith continued.
“…I don’t know what Tibbs was doing tonight…I’m just going to think, I’m just going to think about it, New York, fix it down. 0-2 looks like we’re going home. Looks that way. Don’t know if it is that way.”
New York faces an uphill battle to get back into this series. The Pacers are finding ways to win in close games, and are coming up big during the clutch. Thibodeau must find some answers, if the Knicks have any chance of keeping the outcome respectable.
Knicks Have to Execute Early
A big issue for the Knicks in this series, and really, for the entire postseason, has been slow starts to games. When speaking to the media following New York’s May 23 loss, Towns admitted that his team keep putting themselves in the hole.
“We’re just putting ourselves in a deficit,” Towns said. “Told you how we can’t keep doing that. It’s not going to be time for them to be able to fight back and find ourselves a rookie win. So, we just got to execute and be more disciplined.”
New York must find ways to take control of games early. They can’t keep fighting an uphill battle, especially against a high-octane offense like the Pacers. Rick Carlisle’s team is punishing every mistake by getting out in transition. If the Knicks could control the game more, those mistakes would likely be limited.
Knicks Aren’t Down and Out Just Yet
Towns was part of the Minnesota Timberwolves roster that lost in the Western Conference Finals last season. Therefore, he’s been in this position before and knows how volatile a two-game lead can be at this stage of the season.
“If I’ve learned anything, especially last year, as quick as you win two games is as quick as you can lose two games,” Towns said.
The Knicks will now head to Indiana for games three and four. They have been quite successful when playing on the road during the postseason. Thibodeau’s team must try to take both road games if it wants a chance to progress toward the NBA Finals. If the Pacers snag one more win out of the next two meetings, they will control their own destiny, and that’s not a position the Knicks will want to find themselves in.