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2025 Round 3 Game Thread: Knicks @ Pacers, Game 6 – Going Back to New York City

There’s a moment in the excellent film, The Verdict, where Paul Newman’s Frank Galvin is being consoled by his old friend and partner, Mickey Morrissey, played by Jack Warden. Their expert witness had been pretty much fully discredited, and thus the case is seemingly over (Mickey had arranged for Galvin to get the case because it was an easy pity settlement, but Galvin decided to try it, despite very long odds). Mickey tells Frank to not worry about it, there will be other cases, but Frank shoots that down, repeating over and over, “There are no other cases. This is the case.”

Well, I think you all know where I’m going with this. There are no other games. THIS is the game. Yes, the Knicks would still need to win Game 7 if they win this one, but, A. you can’t think about that, you can only think about tonight, and B. Come on, if they win this won, Game 7 at home should be VERY winnable.

But, of course, they need to win this one.

There are no other games, this is the game. There are no other games, this is the game.

Let’s go, Knicks!

Only six more wins to go!

The Dylan tune is the awesome, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” from Highway 61 Revisited. When I lived in New York City, I would play the song whenever I was returning to the city from a trip just for that line, “I’m going back to New York City.” Let’s hope that the Knicks take this series back to New York City, as well.

559 replies on “2025 Round 3 Game Thread: Knicks @ Pacers, Game 6 – Going Back to New York City”

KB keys to the game:
* Limit Knick turnovers
* Run offensive plays (no iso-hero ball)
* Play (almost) everyone
* When Brunson is off the floor, feed the KAT. (Also sometimes when he is on the court.)
* Play D (duh)

The sky is the limit.

Win or go home!

The streets of Manhattan are awash in orange & blue.

Let’s Go Knicks!

Huk! Huk!

Shamet! Shamet!

and of course…

Deuce! Deuce!

LFGK!

Win this and the clown is at peace with whatever happens in G7

No fast breaks off makes!

After watching it for 5 games it’s really unacceptable…

Why is everyone leisurely jogging back. Have they not learned Indy is going to push it after a made basket

I’m not sure my nerves can handle this…

No, quite sure my nerves can’t handle this.

We were keeping them in check then OG’s lazy turnover opened the Pandora’s box…

Why isn’t OG guarding Hali?

One of the biggest question marks this series.

I swear it’s like Thibs has some kind of memory loss between games

Why isn’t he staggering KAT and JB?
Why is JB bringing the ball up against the press?
Why is he burning up Mitch’s minutes with this long stretch?

Thibs’ good moves are accidental. Never forget. The game tells him what to do and today it’s saying to lose

Looks like game 4 all over again. 40+ point first quarter into loss

We need to pressure the ball more on D.

That might call for the bench players, the teams best on ball defenders

The big guy from the beer garden was standing in front of me, but I think I saw Brunson assist Towns there

TOs and dumb shit are killing us. Fucking low IQ shit. Thank God for Mitch.

Delon Shamet Deuce Hart Mitch
It’s Now or Never as Elvis would say!

Stop the liveball turnovers.
Don’t let the Pacers run off of made baskets.
No backdoor cuts to the rim.

Simple, but not easy to execute

That Hart charge off the steal was a huge momentum killer.

It was close to 100% he was going to do something dumb after making a good steal and starting the break aggresively.

Thibs puts back Mitch for D
He’s going Heavy Psych mode already!

Could be worse. Thought they might run away with it for a second. Bridges did well

Fine first quarter—lots of low hanging fruit to clean up, which is good or bad depending on how one looks at it.

Hali looks discombobulated.

I guess we bought some rest for Jalen and KAT with that headless smallball lineup. I never want to see it again.

Haliburton with a horrendous 1st quarter.

This might be a good sign. He’s not one to flip the switch at the half (knock on wood.)

Big shot from Shamet.

And just for posterity, that Hart offensive earlier was really dumb

I don’t remember any single games where Hart has done as much stupid stuff as he has in each of the last 3

OG!!!!

That’s how you take it to the rim and finish!

Love this Shamet lineup

I do not understand these rotations, but I’m just gonna hope for the best.

Pacers are playing scared. Knicks need to take advantage and go for the kill

Indy paint is open As Fuck!!!

Indy stays home on perimeter shooters to pick off kickout passes. We need to go full slasher mode

The defense in half court has remained good so far. We need to limit turnovers and get back with purpose on misses and makes.

On that OG layup his hand looked normal-sized. I don’t get it.

If the pacers stop shooting 60% from 3 we’re winning this game

Would be fitting if Knicks get eliminated in a game where they do an awful job defending the 3pt line.

I think the issue is Hart is the only one who can stop the Siakam leak out

Towns Defense has lead to like 4 Open 3s. He needs to stop playing drop coverage for fuck’s sake

KAT is like Elmer Fudd deliberating between duck season and rabbit season when they throw a basic screen on him.

Unfortunately he’s also like that when a top-5 shooter in the league is alone at the 3pt arc

“Reversion to mean” is my mantra as I watch the Pacers hit 7/11 from 3.

It’s like they’ve never played together before.

Every time Kat gets the ball in the post, the double is coming… maybe slide over so he can pass to you for the 3??

KaT doesn’t need to process, just Be UP at the 3p line on everyone! We’ll live with a 2. Why can’t he do that??

Mike Epps and three members of the Fever are the entirety of the Pacers’ celebrity row.

I started watching about five minutes ago and so far there has been a horseshit call on pretty much every play

They finally called a push, they do that to Mitch constantly

The refs are giving everything to the Pacers right now and bailing out their shitty offense

By the words of Thibs:
Com on man!
Shitty foul calls on us have started

I kind of like that Siakam can’t shoot free throws

Refs helping now, maybe dumb fouls also

Nice to see Nesmith not getting the same whistle defending the post as he does with his “screen navigation.”

Three first half fouls on Nesmith is exactly what Conspiracy Bill predicted, btw

Shamet is the only player who has tried throwing an interior pass before this game, apparently

Lots of very ugly offense here. All low percentage hero ball and dangerous passes

Lots of dumb plays. Guys have to shoot the ball when they have opportunity

Terrible lineups again Thibs trying his level best to lose

How can that be offensive? Now you can’t lead with your leg making a layup?

We are playing emotional and not smart, uggh. And that was an offensive foul. OG leads with the knee constantly

Well, one thing is for sure. Indiana is playing with a million times more intensity in this game than they did in g5

Need to tighten the turnovers but i don’t mind this sort of game for us if our stars can get their heads out of their asses

Attack the paint
🐴🎺🎺🎺🎺🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🎺🎺🎺🎺

Good bucket fromOG but disastrous end to quarters

Wingstops were good but Brunson and Towns not their best

Brunson’s head is so far up his ass he’s been responsible for like three 4-pt swings.

I can’t imagine Cap going down like this so I expect a huge second half.

Three point shooting:
Indiana 8-15 Knicks 3-11

Turnovers:
Indiana 5 Knicks 10

Start hitting shots, stop doing dumb things and win this fucking game.

Only down 4 at halftime but feels like it’ll take a miracle to win this game.

Big shot by OG there. We’re close. Pls clean up sloppy turnovers and Towns get UP on screens

Halftime adjustments: stop playing drop with towns, rotate to shooters rather than collapsing on Hali.

Lets go!!!!

Starting to realize how terrible of a passer Brunson is. He’s very safe with the ball and doesn’t turn it over because he never tries anything beyond the most basic reads. He’s good enough to force the defense into easy reads but he can’t thread the needle on the PnR.

OG has played well today. I’ll take it. Brunson is very likely to show up. KAT, I dunno.

4pt game, now let’s survive the 3rd quarter and finish this in the 4th.

If Towns would just stay at the level, we wouldn’t have to scramble and give up open threes.

Do you think the drop is a Thibs mandate or just KAT not getting it?

And Hart a plus three while Shamet and Delon were negative 6. So what do I know.

Knicks turnovers (especially dumb ones by Brunson) and Towns bad defenses only reason we are behind. Indiana is not playing well and we didn’t take advantage. We need Brunson to get back to superstar level and get Towns out of these pick and rolls for fuck sake

My halftime coaching: Stop getting up in the air and throwing stupid passes!

Halftime adjustments: stop playing drop with towns, rotate to shooters rather than collapsing on Hali.

Amen

And run back on makes and misses – no more easy points!

I don’t know how they are only down 4. Not a well played first half at all

Oh yeah and stop the Siakam leak out if we lose in the eastern conference finals because of the nba equivalent of cherry picking in pickup I’m going to lose it

This game is literally there for the taking. KAT and Brunson playing poorly and Indy shooting the eyes out of the basket and only trail by 4.

We’d be winning if not for them hitting ~5 completely wide open 3s, not mention the ones they missed.

Dougsays:
May 31, 2025 at 21:12
Come on Jalen. Mitch doesn’t handle low passes well.

Amen

I’ll say it again.

No live ball turnovers.
No fast breaks off made baskets.
No back cuts for layups.

Not easy to execute, but it is simple.

This game is literally there for the taking. KAT and Brunson playing poorly and Indy shooting the eyes out of the basket and only trail by 4.

💯

Wake up, Jalen.

I’m sorry but this team can’t go down playing stupid basketball turning the ball over like schmucks. Not after game 1. Stop acting like it’s charlotte on a back to back

NYK — Start the 3rd with tremendous defensive pressure, turn them over, light a run from the defense end. And get up to the 3P line

Nice start, a weak ass missed layup, two missed free throws and a turnover…

I really want to know what they do at halftime

Edit: Add OG blocked bunny and Bridges’ weak ass and-1…

The game is slipping away. Please put Deuce in for someone. I don’t care who.

Our offense has been dreadful the entire game.
We were lucky to be in this for a half.

Luck ran out.

Ok the opposite of what we needed. Moronic plays by both bridges and Kat

Down 12.

Thomas Bryant in for the rest of the quarter.

It’s time for KAT to go on another scoring binge.

The lack of preparation to start the third quarter is fucking pathetic and a common theme in the series. Players are to blame to sure but what the fuck is Thibs telling these guys?

Players are to blame to sure but what the fuck is Thibs telling this guys?

“Do that again, but harder”

We have two offensive plays:

Brunson dribble the ball into a crowd of defenders

Towns dribble the ball into a crowd of defenders

Neither works very well

Thibs. Take towns out you fucking moron

KaT as bad this game as he was good last game … Oh well. Good Season.

They’re packing the plant because they know we’re not gonna shoot threes. We should shoot threes.

Instead THEY’RE shootings threes and burying us. Thibs is still coaching game 5

This team could win a championship if it weren’t so dumb. Unfortunately it’s really dumb.

Hopefully we can hit our win condition by going down 20 🙄

Jalen Brunson is good but he’s not good enough to be the best player on a championship team. He only gives you scoring.

Is Brunson throwing the game? He’s made awful turnovers and all of them are unforced.

Need to ditch this lineup but Thibs will leave them in to “figure it out.”

I fucking hate how stupid this team is. Pacers are so beatable but Knicks get in their own way.

Still no adjustment from Thibs are you fucking kidding me

Jalen Brunson is good but he’s not good enough to be the best player on a championship team. He only gives you scoring.

Good luck finding that player. Would be better if his second best player wasn’t Towns

There has been no reversion to mean for the Pacers from 3.

My refrain for the season has been “They can’t hit 50% of their 3s every game.” Trust me, they can hit 50% of their 3s against this defense.

I guess the Thibs adjustment was playing better. Im going to live in the woods after this series

In reality these are our 5 best players. They need to figure it out.

I can’t understand why he’s not staggering Kat & Mitch. It’s making us so slow!

They’re not going to regress to the mean if you don’t fucking guard them

Shoot some threes. Bring some variance into this. Playing this style is not working

Deuce stupid mistake = Indiana three.

It’s unbelievable.

Edit: sorry Deuce, it was a bad call. But still…

That is a flagrant. Won’t get called.

It’s under review.

It’s also should be a goaltend for grabbing the rim.

Deuce did not look out of bounds. Can they that the same way they always overturn 3’s 5 mins later?

Thibs, the game is telling you to shoot threes.

Threes are worth more points than twos

sorry guys, was out this morning, and missed the first half.
tuned in and pacers went on multiple runs, sorry should have stayed away

Stan and Reggie are idiots. Head shots are flagrants every time.

The Knicks best 3 point gunner is Shanlmet, at least he will chuck them

8 minutes

That is so demoralizing. To get the steal, muff the fast break, and then have them score.

Fucking hell, you’re one of the best finishers in the league in transition. WHAT ARE YOU DOING going for the highlight reel jumping lob pass

Awful end of quarter by Hart. Has to hold for one off of that steal with less than 24 seconds left.

That possession with 25 seconds left encapsulated the entire game.

I hope haliburton catches an elbow in the face before this game is over.

Hart with another terrible mistake that cost us 4 points swing…
This team play so fucking stupid.

Just brutal, botched fast break, could have held for last shot, Hali comes back and waltzes to the hoop

Can we please sit Josh hart

Josh plays the last 16 mins no matter what bc that’s more important than the team.

The leash that Thibs has given Hart is unbelievable. Hart has played so bad the past few games.

I hate we’re gonna lose to this mediocre, gimmicky Pacers team not because they are better but we are so fucking stupid. And have a terrible coach

Can I call an emergency KB anonymous meeting at a bar after the game?

Hart is firing from 3. That is not likely to work.

Better than Deuce or Shamet

After watching the Pacers demolish us with ball pressure I can confidently say that we would get swept by OKC

Dumb coaching by the Pacers. They had to take a timeout when Walker went down. Tried to get another cherry pick fast break, but it cost them after the steal.

Ball pressure wasn’t a problem with the reserves because they pass the ball instead of dribble the whole shot clock.

The mental torture, get the game a little closer then do boneheaded unbelievably stupid things, rinse, repeat ..

Reggie and SVG have been pretty terrible and can’t see what NBC saw in hiring Reggie.

Bballbreakdown did a whole thing on this offense, not good enough with the defenee

They just showed 3 replays of Nembhard trying to show he suffocating defense. He fouled Brunson on all 3

Thibs coaching philosophy is pretty simple

He values rebounding much more than the average coach and de values spacing.

That is just not where we want these possessions to go – Wright cannot shoot

Really thought that was on KAT, feel like we got a call there

We can’t defend a lick and Hart has done nothing but we refuse to put Mitch in

Brunson badly exposed here. Great player but needs to be second banana.

What they did to him here is not gonna work against SGA

KAT acts like he has never played defense before on a basketball court.

Maybe he hasn’t

Our offense not having any off-ball sets for Brunson to give him some kind of mental break is on Thibs.

Stop turnovers- stop then from running

Seems like something a team should know, can’t do ot

We need a more varied offense. Brunson looks emotionally drained in a way that affects his decision-making. Giving KAT a turn at iso-ing is not enough.

Well, that will do it.

No good way to end without a title. It was a fun run.

Our offense not having any off-ball sets for Brunson to give him some kind of mental break is on Thibs.

Good point. Complete failure to adjust.

We have to get rid of Thibs, Mikal, and probably Towns.

The problem with having no margin for error is what if there’s a game when the Pacers make 50% of their 3s and you make 20% of yours

If you add up the IQ of this team, it’s still in the single digits

Josh Hart for any good shooter opens up the offense. I’ll live without the rebounds when we’re winning by 20.

Good point. Complete failure to adjust.

It turns out those neat Curry-esque relocation sets we ran for Jalen last year were all due to Hartenstein’s passing. Once he left, I guess Thibs buried that part of the playbook.

It’s never fun to compete and lose. It’s way less fun to watch your team get out thunk in real time in the age of data.

Def need a new coach who can coach a non iso centric offense. We need an actual third consistent offensive cog and it’s not bridges. Towns needs a defensive coach that works just with him just on defense and reads. If we can get Giannis , maybe. If we can get Durant without giving up OG or Brunson or Towns, sure. I don’t know , I just hope we’re not stuck in purgatory

Josh Hart for any good shooter opens up the offense. I’ll live without the rebounds when we’re winning by 20.

Oh

We killed them inside in game 5, and they adjusted. We never made the counter adjustment, we just kept trying to win the game in the paint again. Then they upped the ball pressure and we had no answer for that either.

It’s tough to win three in a row in the playoffs. This series might have been winnable, but the next round wouldn’t have been winnable

So, sadly, I think every complaint we make about this team/coaching etc could be in the very first game comment section of this season.

But I guess they’ve overachieved based on my pre-season thoughts. but what could have been…

It feels like all our bullshit has come back to bite us tonight. And “our” I mostly mean “Thibs’.”

This is not a team prepared to win an ECF.

Thibs. Bridges. Have to go. Thibs too stupid to put someone in to guard Hali that can stop him. Bridges is not it.

It’s hard to win in the playoffs when your best player doesn’t have it

Well, gents, it was real. Hell of a run, but we came up short. I hope this team can learn and grow from this.

Thibs. Bridges. Have to go. Thibs too stupid to put someone in to guard Hali that can stop him. Bridges is not it.

Seems like Delon was best for the job. But he doesn’t have the cashe

How different this series could’ve been if Game 1 had turned out differently…

To paraphrase Dennis Green, “we are who we thought we were.”

The way Thibs had nothing prepared for the playoffs and was doing everything on the fly just can’t cut it.

We should blow it up and rebuild around Delon Wright and Landry Shamet, who had the best plus minus in this game

Now we get to discuss which one of our back-to-back humiliating season-ending losses to the Pacers was worse

The team goes out, not with a bang, but whatever Reggie is saying.. I muted it a long time ago

Shamet and Delon needed toxpkay more minutes

Both helped this team. Everytime they got on the court

*** but they don’t have the name recognition to get more on court time

– boards will be active tommorow and maybe Monday

– dead by Tuesday

Looking ahead to next year… I don’t really know what you could do with this team to put them in a position to go farther than this. This was probably the high water mark if the Knicks don’t figure out a way to acquire a genuine superstar player. Brunson’s not good enough to carry this supporting cast to a chip.

Really wish we hadn’t given up all of those picks for Mikal.

Great season.
Disappointing ending.

Thank you for allowing me to jump back on board for this ride.

Giannis shouldn’t want to play for Thibs who is basically a worse Doc Rivers

If Jalen is the leader we believe he is, he’ll be burying himself in film and in a gym on Monday.

Many of the greats had to get over a major barrier to get to the next level.

Knicks don’t figure out a way to acquire a genuine superstar player.

The nba has like 6 superstar players in it

A sad end to the best knicks season in 25 years from this team of losers coached by a bozo

I’m grateful for this season… but holy shit we still looked horrible…

Praying on that flush straight with Huk/Dadiet/Kolek/McCullar

The Knicks best chance was last year if not for injuries. Brunson had a bad game but sad to see so many of you ready to dump him as our star. They are still a player and a good coach short but they aren’t far

Now we get to discuss which one of our back-to-back humiliating season-ending losses to the Pacers was worse

This one is obviously worse because the team was healty, I think you’re the only one who thinks last years was anything but bad injury luck.

The Pacers are a good team, but gagging game one really fucked things up.

We didn’t have it tonight. Bad shooting, absolutely maddening turnovers, Indiana leak outs and fast breaks, and so on. It’s weird that a Thibs team goes down because of defense. Oh well. Nothing’s gonna change now.

It’s been a good 2025 season for the Knicks. A very good one! If you look at the season overall, we over-performed. I trust this FO and coaching staff and I am confident we will be better next season.

We did beat the Celtics so there’s that. I can’t believe that teams can’t figure out how to beat the Pacers.

We missed too many shots tonight, and the Pacers are a problem off misses. It sucks. I hope the Thunder sweep them.

If we have a coach next year that actually sets our roster up to succeed, I think you guys will have a much more favorable view of the talent we have.

The nba has like 6 superstar players in it

And the team that wins the title almost always has one.

Brunson is a great player. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I love the guy. But we’re at the level where “championship” is the immediate goal. Players of Brunson’s caliber (and it’s a high caliber) aren’t typically the best players on championship teams.

The Knicks overachieved. We should all salute them for this run. Getting to that next level is extremely difficult.

Tough end to the season, but thanks for sharing in the highs and lows, all. Don’t know how we get better without a new coach, but I guess we’ll see. This front office has never stood pat.

We definitely need someone to build a real offense for us. If Thibs is still here Leon needs to bring in an offensive genius and tell Thibs he’s designing the offense and that’s how it’s going to be.

We did beat the Celtics so there’s that. I can’t believe that teams can’t figure out how to beat the Pacers.

Stop turning the ball over

Anyways the defense between this team [Knicks] and OKC will be on display

OKC will wipe the floor with Indiana. They like to play defense even faster than the Pacers like to play offense.

Season ends with a whimper. I’ve never seen Brunson play with such a lack of intensity and such terrible playmaking. More concerning was there was no leadership to try and get the guys up. Body language was poor all night in an elimination game.

A fun season but no fight at the end is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Really never recovered from that Game 1 collapse. Big missed opportunity to go to the Finals.

I fully expect a sweep of the Pacers as OKC is on a mission. (We would’ve gotten swept too). They are a gimmicky team in the mold of a Nash- Phoenix Suns, D’antoni Rockets, but they did enough to advance. I think like others we beat ourselves rather than the Pacers beating us.

Gonna be an interesting offseason with Giannis seemingly on the market. Not sure Bridges has done enough to warrant an extension. But all comes down to the coach. Lots of good replacements out there but does Leon Rose have the guts to do what I think is necessary?

Fire Thibs

I think you’re the only one who thinks last years was anything but bad injury luck.

I think last year was 100% injuries just not injury luck.

The Knicks overachieved.

They were held back more by their coaching than their talent.

They were held back more by their coaching than their talent.

This 10000000%

Gonna be an interesting offseason with Giannis seemingly on the market. Not sure Bridges has done enough to warrant an extension. But all comes down to the coach. Lots of good replacements out there but does Leon Rose have the guts to do what I think is necessary?

Bridges,- not good enough to long hin long term into a core.

HIRE DAN HURLEY

Yessss time for coaching hire theorycrafting

Will Hollywood Dan Hurley take us to the promised land?

Does anyone have any inside info on Johnnie Bryant’s actual X’s and O’s abilities?

Should we hire away Carlisle’s protege and ATO specialist, Mike Weinar, for a boy genius coach of our very own?

Fire Thibs, trade KAT for Durant, muddle along next season, let Bridges go/sign and trade him next offseason to recoup some of the cost. Then we have 50m coming off the books when Durant moves elsewhere. Thats the best I got at this point.

Maybe we run it back with twin towers and better coaching, but I just don’t see how you can survive in the playoffs when your two best players get hunted incessantly on defense.

And the Knicks know it wasn’t bad luck last year, too. That’s why we hired a new medical staff and stopped playing everyone 45+ mpg in the playoffs.

As the season is over… Shout out to the medical staff. They’re the real MVPs

but I just don’t see how you can survive in the playoffs when your two best players get hunted incessantly on defense.

Jokic and Murray won a title recently. Are they breaking any defensive metric?

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that there’s no way Thibs is getting fired. He’s not going to get fired until this team shows signs of decline.

This was our best season in 25 years. Thibs will be back, y’all.

Great run. The goal for this season was to reach the ECF, and we did it. We’ll have a lot of time to talk about what we have and what we should do. Tonight, and although this game was kind of bad, i’d like to thank the team for the season they had.

Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player on planet earth and is leagues better than Towns defensively.

The Knicks overachieved.

They overachieved until they underachieved. Beating the Celtics was unexpected but there’s no way losing to the Pacers in a less competitive series than last year is an overachievement.

leagues better than Towns defensively.

No he isn’t. I see layup after layup on Jokic every time I watch him.

We were a little top-heavy even with Mitch coming back off his injury.

I don’t usually believe in calling for a new coach off the hip. But I really think we’re at the Mark Jackson Warriors point of team building: we need a more forward-thinking coach to unlock the kind of offensive creativity that can get us to the next (championship) level.

They hit their 3s. That pretty much sums it up.

On to the off season and figuring out how to be better next year.

A few things are obvious, but the path there is very cloudy.

Why are we talking about Jokic? The guy is one of the greatest offensive players to ever play the game and dragged Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon to a chip. Trade Brunson for Jokic and we’re hoisting the trophy in a week

Knicks were up 14 under 3 minutes in game 1

That’s stupidity not talent

Culture changed. Sure. Now stop fucking around and get the right coach.

Culture changed because of the coach, but yeah hire Hurley

Knicks were up 14 under 3 minutes in game 1

Yeah, they shouldn’t have lost that game. I think we all can agree on that.

Jokic and Murray won a title recently. Are they breaking any defensive metric?

I’ll let Hamlet answer the Jokic/Towns comparison even on defense:

But two months dead – nay, not so much, not two –
So excellent a king, that was to this
Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!

Finally, the end of the worst single day of my sports fan life, I’ll definitively need some days to lick my wounds… 😁

This was at the same time one of the most talented Knicks team ever and one with the lowest BB-IQ Knicks team ever.

It’s been results over process all year long, prone to lazy mistakes, dumb decision-making and a habit for sleepy quarters.
A stubborn, dogmatic coach didn’t help.

But somehow, on talent alone, we won a lot of games and a couple of series.

Smart teams/well coached teams never lose a game like Game-1 (the game that cost us everything), our weaknesses were cruelly exposed and taken advantage of by Carlisle and his relentless crew.

It was a strange season, we went far but to me it felt like something was missing, we never had an identity.

Anyway there were some nice moments and we did play until the last day of May, but now something must change.

I doubt I can stand another year of Thibs, if he’s here next season I’ll take a sabbatical.

An heartfelt “thank you” to all my fellows KBloggers, spending a whole season with this community has been a pleasure as usual.

I’m not gonna make any sweeping conclusions based on tonight but this was pretty shitty. Tonight we were pathetic, and this is after we handed them games 1 & 2 on silver platter. To lose 4 out of 6 when they only played their best in one game is a tough pill to swallow.

OKC also was going to crush this team absent Shai getting hurt early in the series. I would have loved to have beaten the Pacerss and had that chance but this was very much a 1999 scenario

Jokic is one of the smartest ballers to ever ball. KAT has trouble thinking his arms into an upright position.

It’s so weird that I don’t even really care that much. I think I just feel like they don’t really care enough. I honestly think Brunson is pretty damn selfish the way he plays. When the ball moves with that team they destroy other teams offensively and we haven’t seen that in months.

But I really think we’re at the Mark Jackson Warriors point of team building: we need a more forward-thinking coach to unlock the kind of offensive creativity that can get us to the next (championship) level.

This, exactly. You can add Dwayne Casey as another example. Thibs took over when we were total shit, brought us back to respectability, established a robust team culture, got us to the playoffs, got us to 50 wins, and made Knicks basketball something to be proud of again.

There’s no shame in being the floor raiser. Now it’s time to pass the baton.

This was our best season in 25 years. Thibs will be back, y’all.

It was. Thing is, with the level of parity in the league now (along with the Celtics impending fall from grace), I don’t believe you wait if you believe you can take a shot or two. Even if OKC goes on to win it, they can’t stay a super-team for long.

If the Knicks had lost a hard-fought series to a healthy C’s team or lost in the Finals to OKC, you can live a lil bit with the fact we lost to a more talented team. But is that the case with this loss? That’s one of the first things the front office has to decide on.

When the ball moves with that team they destroy other teams offensively and we haven’t seen that in months.

You may recall that coincides with teams neutralizing the KAT/Brunson pick & roll back in January by putting a wing on KAT and a center on Hart. Which Thibs never developed a counter for.

It was an indictment on the team how they couldn’t match the Pacer’s intensity in the second half. A tightly nit NBA team doesn’t fold under full court pressure.

On the good news front, Mitch has rebuilt his trade value completely.

Another factor is that, when they hired Thibs, coaching the Knicks was a very unattractive job. I don’t think you can say that anymore. They’ll have options!

Josh Hart’s poor play in this series is something that can’t really be ignored. You’d just cringe every time you’d see him with the ball, it’s like you just knew a bad decision was coming every time. He only played 21 minutes but boy was he dreadful again.

The Knicks play in NYC. They could win 15 games. It will never be an unattractive job. Add in the Money 💰 .

Hart wa garbage all series. The thibs/hart duo needs to be broken up

Tonight has the emotional weight equivalence of getting a parking ticket. Irritating and slightly nagging, but totally expected – I mean c’mon, we parked in a No Thibs zone and got caught.

Like, did someone replace Josh Hart with a pod person — I don’t remember him passing us out of games with turnovers. Why was he trying to thread passes around the court like he was Draymond?

Look it’s extremely rare for a newly assembled team to win a championship that first year, unless a 1st team all NBA player is joining a 70 win warriors team. Our guys overachieved. Having said that, the two big questions are what do you do about Thibs (MGMT likely will give him a leash thorough next year) and what do you do about Bridges. Bridges had zero good entire games on offense in the playoffs in a win that I can remember. He had amazing quarters and moments but not one good game that comes to memory. Is he a starting 2 guard, and 3rd offensive weapon, on a championship team without an NBA all first teamer or legit MVP candidate …the answer is clearly No. I just don’t know how we move on from him. A suns swap with Durant? But then we’re getting even less deep. I dunno

Tonight has the emotional weight equivalence of getting a parking ticket. Irritating and slightly nagging, but totally expected – I mean c’mon, we parked in a No Thibs zone and got caught.

Yeah it’s why I’m more frustrated than sad. Our luck ran out.

There will be plenty of time for me to share my thoughts about this team and what’s next.

For now, thank you. I loved this team and thought they showed a lot of toughness and resiliency during these playoffs. I think a lot of people here are really understating how good the pacers are right now. They’re deep and well coached and they have an Olympian in Hali.

I expect them to make it somewhat of a. series against OKC.

On the subject of Indy scoring 40 bajillion points off runouts tonight:

Someone just reminded me that we lost the Miami series in 2022 from Kevin Love outlet passing us to death. I had blocked that out from memory.

The Pacers are a good team, but gagging game one really fucked things up.

We gagged game two, too. And tonight we laid an egg. You can’t spot a team 3 wins.

I expect them to make it somewhat of a. series against OKC.

Good luck finding a hole in that defense. If the NBA isn’t going to call fouls it will be bad.

OkC defenders won’t die on Hali screens… Anyway, Stinks to go out like that but our guys gave us some amazing memories

The coaching staff will almost certainly be back. Thibs will be seriously judged next season once the roster improves. Front office, coach, and best player seem to be aligned 100%, and the team kept getting better year after year. If there is something I’d personally hold them accountable for, this would be their decision making last summer. There is no doubt in my mind they were all in before those decisions were made. Anyhow, we are where we are right now.

As for the roster, the market will tell. It is more reasonable to expect changes around the edges, say, Chris Paul coming in as backup PG or something like that. It is going to be tough to move a major piece like KAT unless, say, the Greek Freak magically asks out and expresses preference for the Knicks. There is also speculation about KD but who knows what the Knicks have in mind. We shall see.

The problem with a coach like Thibs is he will get you to the playoffs with a solid record, so it’s hard to say anything about his coaching until it’s fully exposed in the playoffs. Rinse, wash and repeat.

Fuck Kevin O’Connor, that sniveling hack. World’s #1 Elon Musk fanboy and weirdo incel.

Behind the scenes, they and coaches expressed frustration with Towns’ defensive habits…Towns executed incorrect coverages without communicating why…players worried Towns didn’t grasp the importance of the matter.”

Lots of tidbits like this in a worthwhile read from Fred & JL3

These things always just randomly start coming out
https://xcancel.com/krispursiainen/status/1929018739158065487

That stuff brings me back to game 1 when Towns was getting yelled at on the bench

FWIW ever since you started doing that xcancel thing the links don’t work

xcancel links work fine here?

yeah weird to have hit pieces ready, wonder who benefits from blaming everything on towns…. if towns was a villanova guy wonder who they’d blame instead?

Link worked for me, and I LOOOOOVE ArtButMakeItSports.

I don’t know, it’s a hugely talented but weirdly constructed team with holes throughout. You need a savant as a coach to make it work. We got to the ECF purely on talent (the players) and grit (the coach).

Someone’s got to make them play differently than they want to play (default to playing). Not sure that’s Thibs.

Appreciate that we almost played into June.

Comparing Jokic’s defense to KAT’s is the difference between doing more with less and doing less with less.

Both Jokic & KAT are slow footed. Neither can jump to protect the rim.
Both are strong defensive rebounders.

The big difference is that Jokic sees the game and quarterbacks the defense. He may not always have the speed to get to the right spot, but he almost never makes the wrong read to break the defense. He makes himself big on defense by getting his hands up or wide.

KAT makes bad reads many times each game. He does not get up to the level of the screen. He frequently plays with his hands low & close to his body.

I do not know if he can be coached into being a bad defensive player at center or if will always be a terrible defensive player.

The last 10 years the NBA finals have been won by

Steve Kerr (4x)
Budenolzer
Malone
Nurse
Crazy Joe
Vogel
Lue

Aside from Kerr, Buds, Malone, Nurse and Lue all had a good case for having the best player in the NBA on their team that playoffs. Mazzula had a superteam and that leaves Frank Vogel.

Obi played 25 minutes tonight and can help a team win it seems..

KAT had a very good season overall, his frustrating and likely incorrigible at this point weaknesses notwithstanding. I think Thibs got the best of him. Two out of his three All-NBA selections came under Thibs. That having been said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Knicks move him this summer should a good opportunity arise. They are not going to move him just to move him, but they will pull the trigger, I think, if they find a combination which improves the roster.

Hot Hand Theory
@HotHandTheory
Karl-Anthony Towns’ oEPM was BY FAR the lowest of his career as a Center since his rookie season. The Knicks played Towns at Center all season but only got the downsides (poor rim protection) without the huge upside. It was like Towns at PF next to Rudy Gobert…without Gobert.

If the team plans to go forward with Towns, you can’t be playing Josh Hart next to him. Go 5 out or look to move him.

Indiana’s offense just played against us for the last six games and now they have to face OKC. Good luck, fuckers.

I’m excited to root for OKC, my spirit animal team

New York Basketball
@NBA_NewYork

“New York organized multiple players-only meetings after embarrassing defeats throughout this postseason run, all with various degrees of intensity, per league sources”

Man why are down 20 all the time..

Xavier Justin
@xavierjdesigns

The Knicks were +14.8 points/100 in the 371 possesions they played this season with Towns and ANY assortment of 4 shooters.

This includes reg season and postseason

Kats defense is bad, so use his properly on offense challenge

The problem is not KAT or Brunson. It’s KAT “and” Brunson. If we are going to continue with this 1-2 punch, then we have to upgrade Hart and play a true 5 out. We can do that via the PF position (my preference for certain matchups and rebounding) or SG (maybe easier) or we can keep trying to make Towns/Mitch work, but that does not maximize KAT.

I mean the team went to game six of the ECF, I’m not sure there is a glaring problem aside from this team was 7 players deep

Here’s my sober (well, not really…) take on this loss, and in a larger sense, this season.

-I don’t care who was coaching this team, it is simply not a championship roster.
-I don’t have any special allegiance to Thibs, but the roster issue vastly supercedes the coaching issue.
-Mikal, OG, and Hart are simply not good enough on offense.
-Brunson+KAT is an insurmountable defensive problem at this level.
-Mitch is great in his lane, but it’s a very narrow lane.
-Give Indy credit, not for their offense, which was certainly solid, but their defense, which was special tonight. And not just against Brunson.
-Those ass-kickings we took in the regular season vs. OKC, BOS, and CLE reared their head tonight…not the result, but the reasons.

So it’s on to the postseason for us. If there aren’t fairly dramatic changes, this team has hit its high water mark. We need an upgrade over one of Mikal, OG, or Hart. We need an upgrade over one of Mitch or KAT. We need a better bench and would benefit from a coach who knows how to use it.

That said, THANK YOU Knicks, for a great season. Cap. KAT. Mikal. OG. Hart. Deuce. Mitch. And the rest. You played your hearts out and gave me a ton of joy. Thibs, thanks for having the team prepared to compete on most nights. I don’t think we make it this far without you.

And to Leon, thanks, appreciate what you have done. But now you are on the clock. You made a bunch of suboptimal decisions that have resulted in us being behind the Pacers. Make up for it. Like, now.

Just watched the game and read the thread. Tough loss bc I expected way more fight. Def didn’t like to see Obi ballin’ for someone else. He gets to be Shump or JR now with us in the rear view. Nevertheless a good year for us. We’ll be back. Kudos to our “Dallas” physio team!

Agree with Katz here:

Over the last four years, they’ve gone from missing the playoffs; to a second-round defeat; to a second-round defeat in seven games that occurred amid injuries aplenty; to the conference finals. Each spring has yielded a new, positive step.

As mentioned, now our guys must deal with the heavy weight of Expectation. Can’t be a champion unless you can do that.

Definitely a delightful rollercoaster season with unfortunately an (as usual) bitter end

Leon’s work starts today and hopefully he improves this team even further.
Last off-season he tried to go starpower/Nova connection but i think he messed up a bit with the locker room and the function of this team’s engine
We had much more horse power but lots of ups and downs also.
Thibs, Mikal, OG, KAT, Hart, bench and even Mitch are on the table right now and its definitely Leon’s responsibility to try a calibration or trade the ones that kill the cohesion.
Seems like the most interesting summer in a long time is coming

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