With the Knicks facing a 0-2 series deficit after Friday’s 114-109 Game 2 loss to the Pacers, what changes will be made before a pivotal Eastern Conference Finals swing for Game 3 in Indiana?
Neither side appears to be looking too far ahead as the best-of-seven set shifts from MSG to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“Same thing — just get ready for the next one,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau after the Pacers, who mixed in 11 players, outscored New York’s eight-man rotation 65-57 in the second half. “You’ve got to be ready for the next challenge. We’ve got to study the film, make our corrections and get ready to play again.”
Indiana stole both of the first two away games in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers before dropping Game 3, 126-104.
Although Rick Carlisle‘s team won the series, 4-1, the Pacers are not taking the Knicks for granted.
“There are a lot of traps here,” Carlisle said. “You cannot assume going home is going to be easier — it never is. Each game, as you ascend in a playoff series, becomes harder.
“New York — they have an amazing fighting spirit, so we’re going to have to keep concentrating on our process, making it hard on them and trying to keep tempo in the game.”
Where do the Knicks start?
After Pascal Siakam‘s game-high 39 points among the Pacers’ six double-digit scorers, New York must get back to basics.
“Just taking it one game at a time,” said Knicks wing Mikal Bridges, who scored 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting while adding seven rebounds in 45 minutes. “We know it’s 2-0, but it’s still a long series — 1-1 first series, up 2-0 last series, now down 0-2.
“We’ve just got to find different ways to advance. We’ve just got to be better defensively as a team and offensively make the right play.”
Karl-Anthony Towns echoed Bridges when he referenced how his former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Denver Nuggets in the 2024 Western Conference semifinals and lost three straight before ultimately winning the series in seven games.
“If I’ve learned anything, especially last year, as quick as you win two games is as quick as you could lose two games,” said Towns, who scored 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in 28 minutes. “So just bank on my experience and we’ve just go to execute at a higher level.”
