Three keys for Knicks in first-round playoff series vs. Pistons
Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa has the ball knocked away by Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, left, with center Jalen Duren, right, helping defend the basket during the first half of an NBA game Thursday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Duane Burleson
The Knicks enter the postseason matched up with a young and inexperienced Detroit Pistons squad and heavily favored. So it’s worth remembering that in the last three postseason appearances the Knicks were ousted by a lower-seed. Here are three keys to watch for as the Knicks begin their postseason run.
1. Be the best
Cade Cunningham has emerged as an All-NBA player this season and some would argue he gives the Pistons the best player in the series. And maybe he was in the regular season, including against the Knicks when he averaged 33.8 points and connected on 56.3% from the floor and 52% from three.
But in the playoffs this is his first time under the microscope where Tom Thibodeau and his staff will set out a plan to make him ordinary. Under that microscope Jalen Brunson already has flourished, piling up four consecutive 40-point games in the postseason last year. For all of the Pistons’ reputation for toughness they have had no answer for Brunson this season.
In four meetings Brunson has put up 35.8 points per game on 51.2% shooting, including 41.9% from three. Brunson has help around him this season, more than Cunningham does, and the Knicks have more answers on how to slow Cunningham. Deuce McBride had little luck, allowing him to connect on 11-of-15 shots, and against OG Anunoby Cunningham was 7-for-11. He was 8-for-21 against Mikal Bridges, who figures to get the first shot. And even though I think Anunoby is the answer, as Thibodeau often says, you guard stars collectively.
2. Meet force with force
The Knicks have spent the season trying to live up to their own rosters of recent vintage, teams that were hard-working overachievers. And now they face off against a team that mirrors those past Knicks squads, jumping from 14 wins to 44 while trying to create the Bad Boys version 2.0.
The Pistons pride themselves on hustle and force. “It’s going to be a war,” Cunningham said on ESPN Sunday. “It’s going to be highly physical games — defense, battling it out on the glass, all of those different things.”
Detroit has the players to live up to the reputation, from Isaiah Stewart to Jalen Duren and even to Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland. The Knicks changed their roster to add skill and need to rely on that, but they can’t allow themselves to be bullied or outworked. They were just last week when they put a shorthanded squad on the floor. Mitchell Robinson back and healthy should help.
3. Health matters
While the talent and toughness have been debated this season there is one factor that the Knicks have going for them right now: Despite the constant focus on Thibodeau’s use of players and the minutes load, the Knicks are entering the postseason healthy — every player other than rookie Ariel Hukporti available.
Last season the Knicks were undone by injuries — Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson all lost at some point In the postseason. Despite the Knicks dominating the minutes leaders in the NBA they enter at full strength, needing this week just to serve as a mini training camp to get their rhythm back.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
