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Mike Brown may need to reconsider a particular tactic he’s relied on throughout the season.
This approach, which has been a staple for him, has negatively impacted the Knicks in both matchups of the current series.
Brown typically opts to rest Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters, rather than staggering their playing time to keep one active on the court. The alternative lineup featuring Miles McBride, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson, and Mitchell Robinson faltered during the Knicks’ narrow 107-106 defeat to the Hawks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
“We’ve used that lineup frequently toward the end of the season,” Brown remarked. “It has performed well in the past. Tonight, however, we struggled and committed too many turnovers during that stretch. Yet, we had moments with our starters where we led by eight to ten points, and Atlanta managed to close the gap. Therefore, I wouldn’t attribute the outcome solely to that specific lineup.”
Despite entering the second quarter with a nine-point advantage, the Knicks saw the Hawks launch a 13-3 run as Brunson and Towns sat out, overtaking the lead. The Knicks’ bench, especially Shamet, struggled to make an impact, prompting Brown to substitute Jose Alvarado—who was seemingly out of the playoff rotation—into the game for Shamet. When the Knicks starters returned, they managed to reclaim a seven-point lead by halftime.
In the fourth quarter, it was Alvarado on the floor — instead of Shamet — along with McBride and Clarkson to start the quarter. They began the quarter up 12. By the time Brunson and Towns subbed back in with 7:56 left in the game, they led by nine.
Then, with the starters on the floor, came the collapse.
“We trust any one of our guys in this locker room to be in that game at any time,” Towns said of sitting at the same time as Brunson. “What I do know is the time we were off the court wasn’t when we lost.”
The draft pick is set.
The Knicks will have the No. 24 pick in this year’s draft. Six teams with identical records had their ties broken by random drawing Monday, conducted by the NBA.
The Knicks (53-29) won their tiebreaker over the Lakers.
OG Anunoby finished 10th in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Earlier this month, he expressed his belief that he should win the award. But that finish should give him a good shot at making one of the All-Defensive teams, another honor for which he has vouched for himself.