The New York Knicks scored 121 points against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. That’s a reason to celebrate, right?
Not exactly. It would have been if the Knicks came away with the win. However, as good as they were on offense, they were so to the opposite effect on defense, as they allowed the Pacers to drop 132 points in the loss. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was not happy with the scoreboard and what contributed to what it showed at the final whistle.
Knicks head coach expresses displeasure with team’s defense vs. Pacers
Per New York Basketball, after the game, coach Thibodeau tore into his troops, insinuating that their effort on the defensive side of the ball isn’t matching that which they show on offense, saying this in part:
“We gave up way too much. If you don’t challenge shots, they’re gonna make…Didn’t cover the line. We gotta fix it, and we gotta fix it fast”
“We have to be strong on both sides of the ball. If we’re just gonna rely on offense, we’re not gonna be a good team.”
Knicks allowed the Pacers to shoot efficiently in volume during loss
The Knicks certainly did not put forth their best defensive effort on the road in Indiana, to put it lightly. They were two Pacers made free throws away from Indiana going 50-40-90 against them as a team. They allowed the Tyrese Haliburton-led franchise to shoot 51 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free-throw line, but it was the 46 percent clip from the three-point line that was most detrimental to New York on the affair.
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The Pacers hoisted a whopping 46 threes in the game. Bennedict Mathurin was responsible for nearly 20 percent of those attempts, and he ended up going 7-9 from deep for a game-high 38 points. The Knicks also allowed Haliburton and Turner to combine for 61 points in the affair.
While the Knicks got buckets of their own, headlined by Jalen Brunson’s 33 points, Karl-Anthony Towns’ 30 points, and OG Anunoby’s 25, they ultimately did not do enough to quiet the Pacers and right the ship. New York is now loser of three of their last four games. They’ll look to get going defensively in their next outing against the Philadelphia 76ers and their returning former league MVP Joel Embiid on Tuesday.
