It’s no secret the key to short-circuiting the Knicks’ high-octane offense and in turn, beating them has been having athletic versatile wings that can simultaneously limit both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns while hurting you both in transition and the offensive glass.
To some extent, it’s been a common denominator in losses to the Hawks, Mavs (without Luka), Thunder, Lakers, and yes the Rockets.
Houston without Fred Van Vleet and Alperen Sengun decided to lean all-in to that philosophy starting five wings and leaning heavily into the freakish gifts of the terror twins Amen Thompson and Tari Eason.
Houston led the bulk of the game including an extended stretch from halfway through the 1st quarter until early in the 3rd when The Nova Core spurred a 14-2 run.
The Rockets as they have done all year found an answer draining four threes in a little over two minutes and buoyed by hot shooting nights from Aaron Holiday and Cam Whitmore looked like they were going to slay their third Eastern Conference titan in two weeks.
And then Jalen Brunson happened.
The Captain dropped 17 points in the 4th quarter including 11 in an electric final four minutes as the Knicks outscored the Rockets 46 to 29 in the final frame in the process completing their first 4th quarter home comeback of the season.
Brunson relentlessly hunted Jalen Green down the stretch having Deuce McBride pop up and screen for him to get the matchup he wanted and then going right by Green to the rack.
Just to mix it up he got his last two buckets on the Rockets pair of defensive phenoms, toasting Thompson on a post-up (giving up six inches) to give the Knicks the lead at 115-114. Then after a Rockets shot clock violation pulling up for a cold-blooded three in Eason’s eye to all but secure the win for the Knicks.
Brunson finished with his first-ever regular season game of at least 40 points and 10 assists in what was an incredible bounce back after a poor outing against the Lakers.
The Impact of Lineup Decisions
The offense was undoubtedly boosted by Tom Thibodeau’s belated decision to play Deuce McBride down the stretch after initially going with Precious Achiuwa to replace OG Anunoby with the starters.
While anyone who’s ever followed Thibs could have predicted he would start big and then potentially pivot from there it’s frustrating to see him willingly start games with a handicap.
Achiuwa had some good moments but didn’t particularly help the Knicks rebounding as they conceded 20 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points.
The spacing around Towns was certainly better than the abysmal showing against the Lakers but the Rockets were still able to comfortably throw multiple bodies his way without fear of getting punished for it when Achiuwa was out there.
McBride opened up the whole offense and allowed Brunson to operate one-on-one as Josh Hart was the only player you could help off of in the final minutes.
Defensively there was no apparent drawback as the Rockets made no real attempt to leverage their size advantage after McBride stonewalled an early Dillon Brooks post up.
Other Topics in Today’s Locked On Knicks Podcast:
• Mikal Bridges’ defensive improvements and offensive potential
• Josh Hart’s impact on team energy and performance
• The Knicks’ struggles against athletic teams and potential playoff implications
