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As the New York Knicks found themselves at a critical juncture in their season, former NBA standout Blake Griffin was less than impressed with Mike Brown’s strategic decisions during the closing moments of Game 3.
In a nail-biting finish, the Knicks had an opportunity to seize victory with just 12.5 seconds left on the clock, trailing by one point. However, their final play fell apart when Jalen Brunson dribbled beneath the basket and attempted a misguided pass, leading to a costly turnover. This blunder resulted in a 109-108 defeat, placing the Knicks in a precarious 2-1 series deficit.
During a postgame analysis on Amazon Prime Video, Griffin expressed his disappointment, remarking, “That didn’t look like a broken play. That’s not the play I would’ve drawn up. In that situation, take a cue from (Hawks coach) Quin Snyder. Get the ball to your go-to player immediately and score. Running multiple actions complicates things and gives the defense time to react. If that was the intended play – I’m not sure – their spacing was also poorly executed.”
In contrast, Snyder’s approach was straightforward. On the previous possession, he created an isolation for CJ McCollum against Deuce McBride, allowing the veteran to sink a decisive mid-range jumper and secure the lead for the Hawks.
Examining the Knicks’ failed play, NBA legend Steve Nash highlighted that Karl-Anthony Towns’ ineffective screen on Dyson Daniels might have doomed the attempt from the start. This misstep underscored the challenges the Knicks faced in executing under pressure.
“I think they tried to get KAT to go and screen for Brunson,” Nash said. “He probably didn’t set up Dyson enough here. He needs to set Dyson up just one more step. Instead, he kind of bails and goes long. Once [Brunson] goes on the side, he gets doubled … He’s kind of left there, double-teamed with no allies.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown told reporters they wanted to give Brunson plenty of open space.
“We cleared the side of the floor for him,” Brown said. “That’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to zipper on the top of the floor and clear that right side of the floor for him ’cause that’s what he’s comfortable doing, and told him to go win it.”
Nash, the former coach of the Brooklyn Nets team that had James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, added that sometimes it’s easier to only make one pass rather than multiple.
“Unfortunately, bad execution down the stretch,” Nash said. “But some of that is when you run plays at the end of the game, there’s a risk when there is more than one pass involved.”
NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, a former teammate of Nash, added further commentary.
“People always complain that you give the ball to your best player and he holds it and they just dribble it, but it is easier sometimes to have court vision and not, you know, scramble to the ball,” Nowitzki said. “I am kind of shocked the Knicks lost these two close games.”
Meanwhile, Heat legend Udonis Haslem slammed the Knicks for “empty possessions” when Brunson is on the bench, and criticized Towns “not winning that matchup” when guarded by Jonathan Kuminga at the top of the key.
“Do they really execute?” Halsem asked.
“The Knicks could not catch the ball in their spot for most of the night,” Griffin added.
The alarm bells are sounding, and panic time is nearing for the Knicks as they hope to reverse course in Game 4 on Saturday in Atlanta.