The Detroit Pistons ended the NBA’s longest drought without a playoff win on Monday night, tying up the series against the New York Knicks as they head to Detroit for Games 3 and 4. But hidden beneath the Knicks flopping at home is a key reason why they aren’t up 2-0 going to Detroit.
When the Knicks rattled off 21 unanswered points against the Pistons in Saturday’s series opener and frankly throughout most of the game, it was Karl-Anthony Towns that torched Detroit. He was hitting baseline fadeaways, hook shots in the lane, stealing offensive rebounds.
The Pistons had no answer for him so naturally Tom Thibodeau thought the perfect adjustment in Game 2 was to remove Towns from the gameplan altogether. It’s single-handedly why the Pistons were able to tie the series.
Detroit tried so hard to throw the game again, going scoreless for five-plus minutes in the fourth quarter. Only on Monday, Towns was non-existent during Detroit’s scoring drought. Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. traded missed 3-pointers the entire second half.
The Pistons youth showed again in almost another blown lead and the best player on the court could impact the game. Sure, Towns deserves some blame for not taking over, despite Jalen Brunson dropping 37 points. But Thibodeaux has to do better at involving Towns because when he’s elite, the Knicks win.
Tom Thibodeaux can’t afford to scratch Karl-Anthony Towns from the game plan again after Detroit ties series up
If you look at the box score, you wouldn’t have to look far as to why the Knicks didn’t get the win. On Saturday, Towns had 23 points and 11 rebounds with a +22 rating in the game. On Monday, he had just 10 points and six rebounds with a -10 rating.
That’s a stark difference between the two games. That comes down to finding ways to get Towns involved in the game. He didn’t take a single shot in the fourth quarter in Game 2. That’s a problem for the Knicks.
Towns is probably the most talented player on the court. He’s a two-way force that can shoot as well as put his back to the basket. Thibodeaux and the Knicks have to figure out how to get him the ball in those clutch moments.
Sure, Brunson was having a phenomenal game. But when your bench only scores eight points, you have to lean on other players. Relying on Mikal Bridges to score 20 points a game isn’t conducive to winning. Especially when no other starter not named Brunson had no more than 10 points.
The Knicks aren’t extremely deep. They need their starters to produce. That also means they need their star player to take over or at the very least, be involved in the offense. The Knicks swapped Towns with Julius Randle because they needed more offense production – reliable production at that.
But if you don’t get him the ball, that defeats the point. Thibodeaux has seen both sides of how Towns is involved in the game. When he’s not, the Knicks struggle, when he is, it’s the difference in capitalizing on Detroit’s miscues.