NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson has a simple solution.
The New York Knicks, by and large, have been outplayed through the first three quarters in both games of their first-round series against the Detroit Pistons. In Game 1, New York needed a 21-0 run to win. In Game 2, when the Knicks’ flurry came late, however, the Pistons adjusted to steal one in Madison Square Garden.
In both contests, slow starts during the first and third quarters have been debilitating. Brunson, after Game 2’s defeat, didn’t want to overreact.
“I think the best answer to your question is we literally just need to be ready to go at 7, 7:30, whatever the start time is,” Brunson told reporters Monday night after New York’s 100-94 loss. “That’s what’s most important, and that’s on me to get these guys ready to go, and we’ll be ready Game 3.”
It’s not just tip-off that’s the issue. Monday night, coming out of the locker room after halftime, the Knicks also slogged through the beginning of the third quarter. New York started the second half making just one of its first 11 field goal attempts, allowing the Pistons to build a solid lead.
The Knicks would eventually settle, and they would go on a run in the fourth quarter to tie the score with a little more than a minute to play. But coach Tom Thibodeau expressed concern with one specific metric indicative of low effort and sluggish starts out of breaks.
“The thing is, missed shots are part of the game,” Thibodeau said. “But the rebounding — we control that. That’s your effort, that’s all those things. If you’re not shooting well, you’ve got to do other things to help us win. Rebound the ball. We know we’ve got to rebound better.”
Monday night, the Pistons outrebounded the Knicks by a margin of 48-34, including a 12-7 deficit on the offensive glass.
As New York has failed to match Detroit’s defensive intensity, the ball has stagnated, players are moving less and the entire operation plods. The Knicks are averaging just 254.5 passes per game in the playoffs, which is down significantly from their regular season mark of 281.2.
“It’s very tough when there’s one ball,” said Brunson, who was named Clutch Player of the Year on Wednesday. “We have a lot of great players on this team and definitely it’s on my shoulders. I’m not going to point fingers and say some people need to do that and this. It’s on me to make sure I set the table. So I’ll go back and I’ll figure out what I need to do. We’ll have conversations and we’ll figure out what we need to do for Game 3.”
It starts with showing up early.