The Boston Celtics are benefiting from one of many Knicks‘ biggest weak spots — spotty transition defense with gaps behind the three-point line — and it’s an space Tom Thibodeau and his crew know they should shore ought to they advance to the Jap Convention Finals to face the Indiana Pacers.
The Celtics shot 22-of-49 from three-point vary of their 25-point blowout of the Knicks in Sport 5. Lots of these threes have been generated off missed Knicks discipline targets that was quick break alternatives for Boston.
Thibodeau stated forward of tipoff of Sport 6 in opposition to the Celtics at Madison Sq. Backyard on Friday that transition three-point protection is “a priority” for the Knicks, who entered the night time proudly owning a 3-2 sequence lead, however confronted a win-or-go-back-on-the-road for a sudden dying Sport 7 on the TD Backyard within the occasion of a loss.
“To me [taking away transition threes] a priority because that’s one of the big ways they generate their threes. So we have to understand that,” Thibodeau stated on Friday. “We have to be disciplined. We have to make defensive transition on every play. And then your communication also has to be great.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stated getting out in transition creates “an advantageous” scenario for the staff with the ball. The Knicks, who’ve chalked their transition struggles to poor communication, have oftentimes left opposing shooters wide-open off of their very own misses and turnovers.
Derrick White made numerous his seven Sport 5 threes in transition, and Payton Pritchard made 5 3s on 14 makes an attempt by pushing the tempo off of a missed shot.
“There’s a five-on-four or a four-on-three. You just have to make the right reads,” Mazzulla stated forward of tipoff on Friday. “So to me, we’ve gotta get out in transition, get out to our spacing, and then make the right play. Most times, the thing in transition is there’s usually a two on one somewhere. You just have to find it.”
The Celtics made 60 threes in Video games 3, 4 and 5, and have continued to generate clear seems to be regardless of Kristaps Porzingis battling an sickness that has stored him on the sidelines most of the time. Shoring transition must be a high precedence — as a result of within the occasion they advance to the convention finals, the run-and-gun Indiana Pacers, led by play-making level guard Tyrese Haliburton, will pelt them from three-point vary on the break.
STARTERS NOT PLAYING WELL
The Knicks’ starters haven’t performed effectively in opposition to the Celtics, they usually can’t clarify why.
“That’s a question yall have asked me several times, and I don’t know — I wish I could give you all an answer, and address it,” stated Josh Hart. “But I don’t know. And at the end of the day, we’ve got to figure it out and execute. But that’s not what we’re doing.”
The lineup of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Cities, Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby was outscored by a median of 16.7 factors per 100 possessions by the primary 5 video games of their second-round sequence.
“As a group, you said we’re a minus-22? In this series? … Well, first, talk about who we’re playing. Let’s talk about the Celtics: the defending champs, a team with a lot of experience, a team that — obviously, we’ve seen what they’ve been able to do the past couple years,” stated Brunson. “So, we’re playing a really good team. Obviously we don’t wanna be minus-22 coming into tonight, but you gotta understand who we’re facing. And we need to be better, flat out. That’s what that means.”
MITCH’S FREE THROWS
Mitchell Robinson shot an ideal six-of-six from the free throw line within the Knicks’ Sport 5 loss to the Boston Celtics. Mazzulla stated Robinson’s streak wouldn’t deter him from deliberately fouling to place a traditionally poor free throw shooter on the foul line,
“I think you’ve gotta take a bunch of things into consideration: home vs. away, first quarter or second quarter, time and score, what the score is when you want to do that,” he stated. “So it depends. So that’ll be a constant read as you go throughout the game.”
