The New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons are currently knotted up one game a piece in an entertaining first-round matchup that continues tonight in Detroit. After a 21-0 second half run gave the Knicks a 1-0 lead, the Pistons ended a 17-year drought of not winning in the playoffs to head home tied.
Over those two games, the young Detroit team has had the more experienced New York's number. Of the 96 minutes of game time, the Pistons have led for 60, or 62.5 percent of the action at the Madison Square Garden. One of the keys to that, according to Tobias Harris, is a difference in how these teams, the Knicks in particular, carry themselves.
I asked Tobias Harris if this Knicks team had a different personality than last year’s team that he met in the first round of playoffs. He smirked, paused and said “it’s a different dynamic for sure. That’s all I’m gonna say.” pic.twitter.com/PEUBd8hWLj
— Barbara Barker (@meanbarb) April 24, 2025
Is this Knicks team less physical than last year's edition?
Harris played last season for a Philadelphia 76ers team that played one of the most competitive playoff series in recent memory against New York, where five of the six games were decided by single digits, and four by six or fewer points.
For his part, the veteran wing only averaged 9.0 points and 7.2 rebounds on 43.1 shooting and 33.3 percent beyond the arc, even going scoreless (0-2 shooting) in 29 minutes of a three-point loss in Game 6. This year, meanwhile, he scored 20.0 points and snagged 9.0 rebounds on 58.3 shooting and 55.6 3-point percent in the first two games. While his role is vastly different, he gets to play to his strengths while being more off-ball with Detroit, it's fair to say there are some major differences from this Knicks team to last season's, as Harris stated.
Tom Thibodeau teams are known for their defense, but this year's squad has lacked the oomph that has made their resurgence the last five seasons. While there are many pieces that have changed from past Knicks teams to this one, the acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns was their biggest addition of the offseason that had some skeptical, and can be seen as the main culprit. Even though the team also acquired Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets, the big man anchoring their defense has never been able to lead an above average defense.
While that trend changed this season, as New York had the 9th best scoring defense (111.7 points allowed), it was a downgrade from being second-best in that department in 2024 (108.2 points allowed). That shouldn't come as a surprise, as the Minnesota Timberwolves never ranked higher than 17th in points allowed with Towns as their starting center in his eighth seasons in the role. The one season they were elite with him, last season, it was with Rudy Gobert anchoring the paint.
At the time of the KAT move, the bet the Knicks made was that the upgrade on offense would make up for the dip on defense. However, their offense going from 112.8 points to 115.8, which only translated to a one-win improvement. And while that can change in the postseason, the team isn't to the best start to make that possible.
Towns' playoff track record shouldn't give anyone that much hope, either. Throughout the first two games, the Pistons have been comfortably in having Harris defend the big man, leaving Jalen Duren on Josh Hart to roam around on help defense and playing off Josh Hart. While Hart has only attempted three threes, making two, Towns hasn't fully taken advantage of the four-inch height advantage and 20-pound weight advantage he has on Harris. After an efficient 23 points (10-14 field goal shooting) and 11 rebounds in Game 1, he only had 10 points (5-11 field goal shooting) and six rebounds in Game 2. Even though it's a two-game sample in 2025, Towns has been known for regressing in the playoffs: while he's averaged 20+ points in nine straight seasons, in four of the five postseasons he's been in he's averaged less than 20 points.
To avoid an upset, the Knicks are going to need some of the "personality", in Harris' words, they had last season against this Pistons team, who comes in as a hungry and energetic underdog that has nothing to lose. If they fail to do so, there will be some tough conversations in the offseason where everyone on the Knicks will have to admit that the bet they made with the KAT addition didn't pay off.