It’s tricky. If you absolutely 100% KNOW that Mikal is not going to drive on Johnson, then yes, he should have, but I don’t know how we can expect Hart to truly KNOW that.

The pass to Bridges was so good that Bridges SHOULD have easily driven to the hole (or at least drawn a foul by Johnson, who was backing up). It’s hard to say “You shouldn’t have thrown that perfect pass because Mikal Bridges is GOING to fuck it up.”

Thibs must be laughing . They fired me for playing the starters too much , but hey this new guy plays extremely bad lineups . Deuce, Shamet, Clarkson should never be happening . Towns scores 14 in the 3rd and is forgotten in the 4th. He has been the Knicks most effective offensive player, but hey with the wing on him no need to pass him the ball.

*Knicks didn’t have a timeout at the end of the game because the coach with another great call here decided to burn a timeout on this https://x.com/AndrewJClaudio_/status/2046433124418994359

*Brunson has been outplayed by CJ through two games pretty easily. Too much chucking from him and not using his big man enough . 26 shots for what last night while Towns was cooking. Embarrassing stuff from him, he has to be better.

If you want a glaring stat with why they could be in trouble

Knicks ORTG w/ a big as KAT’s primary matchup in G1: 134
Knicks ORTG w/ a wing on KAT in G1: 66

Knicks ORTG w/ a big on KAT G2: 139
Knicks ORTG w/ a wing on KAT G2: 66

the Knicks have scored just 12 points in the 18 total possessions Atlanta has put a wing on KAT. This has to change. Not getting him the ball isn’t the answer . They are making it too easy for the Hawks.

Mike Brown’s usage of Karl-Anthony Towns has been absurd all season, and remains absurd to this day.

And I mean, yeah — if the 15 Knicks and the 15 Hawks ran gassers at the end of a random practice, Karl-Anthony Towns would probably finish 30th. That and a quarter, if this was 1997, would get you a Washington Post.

Also the no Brunson no KAT lineup started the 4th 12 up, and when the two came back in it was still a 9 point game with 8 to go. Brown could have put KAT back in, and give Brunson his customary 2 more minutes of rest.

This wart exposing loss exposes the Knicks as merely a pretender for the crown, losing the way they did to the likes of the Hawks at home

He’s a mediocre coach.

“Trying to make a move,” Bridges said in a quiet Knicks locker room. “Got to a spot I like. Just got to make it next time.”

Dude, you shot a 20 foot (*) fadeaway with the game on the line when you caught the ball with a full head of steam and the other team was in transition scramble mode. Give it a rest already.

(*) The clip posted in the game thread said it was a 12-foot jumper. Um … no. Which shows the issue with relying on eyeballed data in these metrics. But that isn’t the issue. The lameass long-range fadeaway hoisted up by Component 2 with the game on the line is the issue.

Going to a lineup where you have McBride or Shamet running offense is crazy . Neither of those guys have ever been a point guard . He coached like a guy that never scouted his roster and has no idea of his players weaknesses.

It’s hard to say “You shouldn’t have thrown that perfect pass because Mikal Bridges is GOING to fuck it up.”

I think the pass was a tiny bit too high, and a tiny bit behind Bridges, and Daniels was already half a step from getting back, so Mikal didn’t have a clear path. But yeah, it is hard to say. Daniels was backpaddling when Hart made his run and he probably saw a wall of 3 defenders and realized it’s not a sure thing for him to go for it. They lost the game before that.

I’m just sick this morning. A 1-point loss is always hard to take, but the way they just epically collapsed was disgusting. Now they not only have to play better basketball in Game 3 on the road; they also have to get that collapse out of their heads. It won’t be easy.

Mike Brown coached last night as if it was still a regular season game.

Underground why are you so obsessed with Thibs? Zero finals, zero titles, every year lost to a lower seeded team

Yeah that was icky and a pretty awful collapse. We’ve been ahead and in control the majority of both games so to be tied 1-1 because of a mental collapse like that is disconcerting.

Whatever. Shake it off and win game three and we’re fine.

A lot of the reason Thibs didn’t go to the Finals in Chicago was because LeBron James was around. Last year he lost to a team that might have won the finals if its best player didn’t go down with an injury. The selling point has always been Thibs was holding the roster back.

*Mike Brown losing this series to this team would be far worse than Thibs during his tenure here so in that sense it would be a downgrade in coaching.

Lebron was in the east the past few years? Wow must have missed that. Who cares about the bulls

I refuse to get worried about a series until we are down. Team looked totally in control for most of the game, has had a bad tendency to go into funks… And that’s what happened. Gotta win on the road anyway!

*Thibs used to coach the Bulls. You asked why Thibs never made the Finals. LeBron being in Cleveland you know one of the games greats is a good reason.

The last six minutes last night was the worst offense I have ever seen. Truly atrocious.

I would close with Deuce.

Owen did you see game 1? Only reason it didn’t happen there was because they had a big enough lead. Prevent offense again.

We are clearly the better team and we’re winning in 5 or 6. Hopefully the collapse makes everyone (Brunson, Brown, Mikal, KAT) look hard at themselves and changes their mindset for the remainder of the playoffs. If this doesn’t happen, some of these guys will be in Milwaukee this time next year and Brown will be watching the playoffs from his couch.

This is just who these guys are.

They’re going to give us great moments this spring. And they’re going to give us shit like last night.

I’ve come to accept it. And I hope I never have to root for KAT & Mikal again after this spring. Everything I hate about those guys was on full display in the 4Q.

Deuce has been pretty bad since returning from his surgery. Hopefully he eventually rounds back into form before its too late cause we could really use his spark off the bench.

“Deuce has been pretty bad since returning from his surgery. Hopefully he eventually rounds back into form before its too late cause we could really use his spark off the bench.”

Oh, no. I hope we’re not going to Grimes him, too!

I know Brunson sucked and OG choked again but I’ll gladly live and die with those guys. KAT’s unwillingness to compete and Mikal’s fear of the rim are two things that will just never sit well with me.

Fortunately KAT does compete often. And I expect he’ll compete often enough for us to win this series. But often isn’t sufficient. To let Jonathon Kuminga take you completely out of a 4Q would be the saddest thing I’ve ever Russell Westbrook humiliate KAT in the post.

I found Bridges hard to watch. As someone who grew up on 90s Knicks is lack of toughness is grating.

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