BOSTON — The befuddlement was authentic. Josh Hart did not know the answer, nor did others inside the New York Knicks who have scrutinized the team’s nooks and crannies all season.
A starting lineup that was supposed to demolish any fivesome in its path has vacillated for months. The third quarter of Wednesday’s beatdown, which extended the Knicks’ and Boston Celtics’ second-round series at least another 48 hours, was the capper.
The Celtics, even without perennial All-NBA first-teamer Jayson Tatum, dismantled the Knicks’ first unit, especially to begin the second half, when Boston ran away with victory.
But why? How does a starting group of this caliber — one that includes two All-Stars, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns; a couple of prime-aged, two-way menaces, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby; and a fully charged energizer, Hart — continue to fall short?
“That’s a question y’all have asked me several times, and I don’t know,” Hart said following a 127-102 loss in Game 5, which narrowed the Knicks’ series lead to 3-2. “I wish I could give you all an answer and address it, 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 Celtics have outscored the Knicks’ starters by a whopping 33 points during this series. Boston has constructed massive leads in each game, often to begin them. The spankings come after the first unit played with fire in Round 1, when the Knicks ousted the Detroit Pistons but the starters won their 144 minutes together by only three points total against an upstart team the first unit was designed to throttle.
In some ways, the theme feels like an odd focus point, considering the Knicks’ position.
New York is one win away from the conference finals. It’s leading the defending champs during a series in which it wasn’t supposed to compete. The grit the Knicks lacked for much of 2024-25 is evident. Their best defensive moments of the season have come over the past two weeks against Boston. All three victories have included inspired comebacks from double-digit deficits.
As Brunson put it after fielding a question about the starters’ troubles: “Well, first, talk about who we’re playing. Let’s talk about the Celtics.”
Boston won it all a season ago for a reason and, for most of the series, had Tatum healthy. Even without him, the Celtics overflow with talent.
At the time, Game 4 of this series seemed like a breakthrough for the Knicks. The same starting unit that fluctuated between scary and weary all season was the one that led a ferocious comeback from down 14 points to snag a commanding lead.
And yet, only a couple of days later, the starters stumbled. Again.
The Celtics won the first 8 1/2 minutes of Wednesday’s third quarter 28-15 before Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau made his first substitution of the half. For better or worse, Thibodeau rolled with the starters, even after Miles McBride hit shots and Mitchell Robinson made the Celtics look like children over the first two quarters.
Thibodeau said he was “just searching” when asked why he stapled the starters to the court, even as Boston pummeled his squad. He hoped one of the stars could put a stop to the Celtics’ constant free throws and the transition 3-pointers or that a shooter could catch fire.
They could not.
Brunson committed five fouls during the third quarter. His fifth, especially, was uncharacteristic. Thibodeau will often leave his point guard in the game when faced with foul trouble, trusting that Brunson won’t try any reckless gambles. But with just over three minutes to go in the period, he slid over to help on a drive from Celtics everything man Derrick White and swiped at a loose arm. Brunson’s final hack, which came not even five minutes into the fourth quarter, was unusual by the All-Star’s standards, as well, an ill-timed bump of Celtics wing Jaylen Brown.
Boston took 18 free throws in the third quarter. New York was out of sorts.
Anunoby sank just 1 of 12 shots, but the misses were only part of the story. He is a deserving all-defensive candidate, but he and others were slow getting back to defend fast breaks, when the Knicks could have benefited from a “pick up the closest man” policy instead of a “find your guy and jog alongside him” one.
On various possessions, two Knicks flocked to one Celtic, which left a shooter or driver alone for an easy look.
“You can’t have any personal dilemmas of if you’re missing a shot or if it’s not going well for you offensively, that you’re jogging back,” Thibodeau said. “You’ve got to sprint back, you’ve got to communicate. And we’ve got to be matched up. If one guy is slow, you’re gonna give them an open shot.”
The Knicks gave Boston too many. Bridges’ jumper went cold, and he fell victim to some of those communication issues in transition. He has played 216 minutes in this series and has yet to take a free throw.
Those communication botches, whether on the break or in the half court, often include Towns, who once again vanished as a scorer. The Knicks’ splashiest 3-point shooter is just 2 of 13 from deep in the series. He’s neither making enough nor taking enough, in part a reaction to the way the Celtics have guarded him. Boston often mans him with a small. Yet, a piece of the drought is self-inflicted.
Towns alters his habits drastically depending on who guards him.
When a reporter asked Thibodeau about Towns’ struggles when smaller players, such as Celtics fire hydrant Jrue Holiday, guard him, the coach pointed out Boston’s game plan. Why couldn’t the 7-foot Towns bully the eight-inch-shorter Holiday?
“You’ve got (Celtics center Luke) Kornet on the backside coming on the double,” Thibodeau said.
But there’s a reason the 7-foot-1 Kornet could roam so freely to Towns.
Kornet, who started the second half in place of Kristaps Porziņģis, parked himself in the middle of the paint after entering, a viable strategy because of one player Boston did not prioritize.
The Celtics elected not to guard Hart, who drained 5 of 9 3-point attempts Wednesday. But making shots isn’t always enough. Because Boston didn’t worry about Hart’s jumper over the long haul, a behemoth could clog lanes to the rim, which Towns and the rest of the Knicks could no longer confidently approach.
Kornet swatted five shots just in the third quarter, the product of a plan that worked because of the five Knicks who were on the court, a crew Thibodeau hasn’t indicated he will edit.
He stuck with the starters as they unraveled during Game 5, in line with his season-long philosophy. The Knicks’ first unit played 940 minutes during the regular season and averaged nearly 20 minutes a game. Both figures led the league by far. And while “minutes” may be a hot topic with any Thibodeau team, this has zilch to do with a coach supposedly overrunning players (an argument that falls flat this season after comparing the Knicks’ injury report, which includes no one, to other playoff teams’). It’s purely a commentary on lineup constructions.
The Knicks’ starters outscored opponents by only 3.3 points per 100 possessions during the regular season, above average, of course, but not close to where a team that’s so in on five guys would want it. Worse, they’ve trended in the wrong direction. Since Christmas, right around when teams started to put wings on Towns more frequently, the starters are minus-1.3 per 100 possessions.
The team could handle Game 6 differently, swapping out a member of the first unit for McBride’s shooting or for Robinson’s defense and rebounding. Thibodeau could go to the bench earlier.
Brunson could take over, as he often does in the playoffs. He could be smarter with his fouls. Anunoby could make shots or not let misses affect his motor. Bridges could get hot. Hart could find better ways to negate Boston’s neglect. Part of the reason the offense stalled in the third quarter was because the Knicks fouled so much, which stopped play and allowed the Celtics to set up their defense on the other end. If the Knicks got stops — if Towns and Brunson could help defensively — then they could get out on the break more.
Maybe come Game 6, this will look like just a blip. The starters could go gangbusters, as they did earlier this week. Or the Knicks could win despite them, as they’ve done numerous times this playoffs.
But digging holes to begin first and third quarters is a restless formula, and the Knicks know it.
“We need to be better,” Brunson said. “Flat out.”
Mikal Bridges is finally looking like the defender the Knicks thought they were getting last summer. We break down his creativity and tenacity on one crucial play against the Celtics.
(Photo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns: Sarah Stier /Getty Images)
